Daily summary: Global equities decline on U.S. election doubts and GDP plunge

• Four Big Tech companies due to  report Q2 results after the market close
• US Economy shrinks at record 32.9%
• European Stocks hit 1-month lows
• Trump suggests delay to 2020 US presidential election

European indices finished today's session lower as recent economic data from the Eurozone weighed on investors mood. Today's report showed that, Germany's economy shrank more than expected in the second quarter and at a record pace. Last month Eurozone jobless rate reached the highest level in over a year. Also inflation reports from Germany and Spain showed that both countries are heading  deeper into deflationary territory. Also surging number of new COVID-19 cases negatively affected market sentiment as Spain reported over 2,000 new infections. On the earnings front, Credit Suisse reported better than expected income figures while Lloyds, Volkswagen and Renault posted weaker results. During today's session Dax dropped 3.5%, CAC 40 lost 2.4% and FTSE 100 finished 2.3% lower.

 

Wall Street is trading mostly lower as the US economy shrank at a record 32.9% in second quarter while initial jobless claims rose for a second week. Meanwhile US President Trump suggested in a tweet delaying elections scheduled for November, claiming fraud in mail-in voting. Meantime negotiations regarding the further stimulus package have come to a standstill. Nancy Pelosi said Republicans seem to have "a disdain toward working people", CNN reported.

Today's investors’ attention will focus on quarterly reports of Four Big Tech companies namely Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook which will be published after market close. More details regarding these companies can be found in our today’s Stock Market Comment post.

 

On the COVID-19 front, death toll in the US surpassed 150,000, while Brazil set daily records of confirmed cases and deaths. Australia is also reporting record number of new infections.

Gold pulled back from record highs  to trade around $1,950 per ounce on Thursday, amid profit taking. Silver fell below the support level at $24.00 per ounce and is testing the next support level at $23.25 per ounce. Gold/silver ratio rebounded above 83.

The U.S. Dollar Index made an attempt to break above the 93.5 but failed to gain more upside momentum and declined closer to recent lows at 93.20.

Oil prices dropped over 4% on Thursday, with WTI futures around $39.4 a barrel and Brent crude near $42 a barrel, amid concerns that increasing number of new coronavirus cases could hamper fuel demand recovery.

A lot is on the agenda tomorrow.  China's Manufacturing PMI, Australia Producer Price Index and Japanese Prelim Industrial Production figures will be the key releases of the Asian session, while Eurozone GDP data will be on watch during European trading hours.  During the US session, market attention will focus on GDP data from Canada, US Personal Income, PCE figures, Chicago PMI and Michigan consumer sentiment. On the corporate front, Merck Co., ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp., AUDI AG, Caterpillar Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Co. are scheduled to report their quarterly results.

USDCHF –  yesterday currency pair broke below its pre-pandemic lows at 0.9179. Should downbeat moods prevail, support at 0.9065 may come into play. Source: xStation5

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