West Texas Intermediate futures for May delivery, which expire later today, settled at negative US$37.63 per barrel on Monday – unlike most other futures contracts West Texas Intermediate is settled with the physical delivery of oil.
The negative price reflected the fact that with the bottom having fallen out of demand with most of the world on lockdown, storage facilities are filling rapidly and the price of stowing away barrels of unused oil exceeds the value of the commodity itself.
"It's cheaper than hand-sanitiser these days, oil," Kelleher quipped.
The broad measure of US stocks, the S&P 500 Index, fell 1.8 per cent on Monday and equities markets in New Zealand, Australia and across Asia have followed suit.
Kelleher said the markets are also talking about reports out of North Korea that leader Kim Jong Un is very ill.
On top of everything else, US President Donald Trump suspended all immigration into the US for an indefinite period, blaming the "invisible enemy" of Covid-19.
Given the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and such developments, "the path of least resistance for the kiwi is down, especially if equities keep selling off," Kelleher said.
The swift change in sentiment wiped out the domestic optimism yesterday after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country will move from full lockdown barring essential services to a lesser phase in which industries such as construction can resume.
New Zealand's cases of new infection today numbered just five, down from nine yesterday, but deaths rose by one to 13 – all those who have died here have been over 70.
Worldwide, the number of infections is approaching 2.5 million and more than 170,000 people have died, with the US being the worst affected with nearly 800,000 infected and more than 42,500 deaths.
The New Zealand dollar was trading at 94.92 Australian cents from 95.22 cents at 5pm yesterday. It was at 48.24 British pence from 48.49, at 55.23 euro cents from 55.65, at 64.34 yen from 65.23 and at 4.2409 Chinese yuan from 4.2815.
The bid price on the two-year swap rate closed at 0.3275 per cent from 0.3125 yesterday, while 10-year swaps were at 0.8700 per cent from 0.8500.
