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1. China's economy suffered its first contraction in over 40 years, shrinking 7% in an 'extraordinary shock' to the global economy. The last time China officially acknowledged a year-on-year fall in output was in 1976. 2.Ray Dalio, Adam Levinson, and other hedge fund bosses posted record losses in an 'epically turbulent' March. Around 75% of hedge funds posted losses last month, including nine in 10 credit funds. 3. Uber withdrew its 2020 guidance and warned of a $2.2 billion writedown. The news comes just as Uber faces an employee backlash in California. 4. Tim Cook said Apple has donated 30 million face masks and shipped 2 million of its own face shields. Apple announced it was making the face shields in early April, and said it would ship around one million per week. 5. French telecoms group Orange to cut dividend by 30%. The telecom operator said it would cut its dividend for the 2019 financial year by 30% and would review dividend policy for the 2020-2023 period. 6. Amazon's CEO in France hopes warehouses in the country can reopen 'very quickly'. Amazon closed six French warehouses used to stock and package goods for shipment on Thursday until at least April 20. 7. Volvo Cars to restart production in Sweden next week. The luxury-vehicles brand will reopen its Torslanda factory and offices in Sweden following a three week shutdown caused by the pandemic. 8. Stocks are up. In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 4.2%, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 3.6%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 4%. In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.6%, and Japan's Nikkei rose 3.2%. In the US, futures underlying the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq rose between 2.3% and 3.3%. 9. Earnings expected. Schlumberger and Procter & Gamble are two highlights. 10. On the data docket today. Baker Hughes US oil rig count and CFTC Gold net positions are due for release. | 
