A much vaunted infrastructure bill could be back on the agenda again while the United States moves to shore up its economy and stem job losses amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
US President Donald Trump said in a post on social media platform Twitter earlier on Tuesday March 31 that the bill would be the fourth part of the government's stimulus measures to handle the impacts of the virus.
"With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill. It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4," Trump said.
The comment gave a short-lived boost to the share prices of numerous steel and mining companies, which have been dealing with the two-pronged dilemma of demand-crimped markets and production constraints as governments worldwide get to grips with Covid-19.
But metals and mining equities still ended the quarter significantly lower, against a backdrop of the 23% decline in the Dow Jones...