OIL SET FOR THIRD WEEKLY GAIN ON SUPPLY CUTS

Oil is heading for a third weekly gain on signs the market is slowly rebalancing as major producers cut supply and consumption recovers after a historic collapse in demand due to the coronavirus.

While futures in New York edged lower in early Asian trading, prices are still up about 11% this week after closing above $27 a barrel on Thursday for the first time in over a month. Saudi Arabia has slashed supply to the U.S., Europe and Asia as OPEC and its allies reduce daily output by almost 10 million barrels.

The International Energy Agency said that the outlook is improving, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and BP Plc see gasoline use rising.

Lufthansa needs bailout, takeover protection, minister tells RP. Deutsche Lufthansa AG has to be bailed out by the German government and needs protection against a potential foreign takeover, Hesse’s prime minister, Volker Bouffier, told daily Rheinische Post in an interview Friday.

“Itisrightthatwe have to help Lufthansa. It needs to stay in Germany,” Bouffier said, adding that the government needs to prevent competitors from China, the U.S. or the Middle East from secretly buying shares in the airline.

The leader of the German state of Hesse, where Lufthansa has its primary hub, said the company will have to halt dividend payments for some time following a capital injection, and must accept that federal officials will have a say on bonuses.

Banks refusing to lend in India prompt $62 billion rescue deal. India’s battle-scarred bankers are hoarding cash and reluctant to lend to smaller firms, forcing the government to ride to the rescue of millions of companies struggling for survival during the nationwide lockdown.

The lenders are accepting penalty rates to keep a record $92 billion a day with the Reserve Bank of India and have shunned a central bank program aimed at credit-starved corporates, choosing safety as the pandemic cripples economic activity.