Daily summary: Global markets mixed as Coronavirus cases surge

 

European indices finished today's session lower as investors remain concerned about the second wave of coronavirus infections as pandemic is spreading across the US. Also Austria reported highest daily new coronavirus infections since April. Negative moods were partially offset by optimism surrounding Pfizer's potential treatment against COVID-19 and positive economic data from the Eurozone and China. Preliminary tests showed that a potential coronavirus vaccine  produced by Pfizer and BioNTech is producing antibodies against the virus. On the data front German retail sales rose sharply in May, showing a recovery in private consumption, meantime number of unemployed in Germany rose by 69 thousand last month, which is a much better result compared to the previous two months. Eurozone's PMI figures  and China’s manufacturing data came in above market expectations. DAX 30 lost 0.5%, CAC 40 fell 0.3 % and FTSE 100 finished 0.2% lower.

US indices are trading higher amid a general improvement in investors' risk appetite after ISM figures pointed to the biggest expansion in American factory activity in 14 months. ADP data showed the US economy added jobs for a second straight month. However fears regarding second wave of Covid-19 infections in the US led many states like California, Florida, and Texas to reimpose lockdown restrictions. Many investors are worried that economic recovery would be delayed due to the rising number of new cases. Yesterday US health authorities reported over 47K new infections, which is  the highest number since the pandemic began. Today Arizona  reported a new record case count of 4878. That is up 6.2% compare to yesterday. On the geopolitical front, US is willing to implement sanctions in order to punish senior Chinese  Communist Party officials over human-rights abuses against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, however there is no mention of what those sanctions might be, according to Bloomberg. During today’s session Dow Jones rose 0.11%, S&P500 is trading 0.70 % higher and NASDAQ-100 hit an all-time high of 10307.

 

Gold price fell more over 1%, below $ 1,763 an ounce, moving away from a nearly 8-year high. Precious metal rose more than 12% in the second quarter of 2020, which is the best performance since end-March of 2016 as the huge monetary stimulus have flooded the market with liquidity.

WTI crude futures rose more than 1% to trade around $39.8 per barrel, while Brent futures added 2% to trade above $42.10 in a volatile session after the EIA report showed the largest weekly decline in US crude inventories since December 2019.

Today investors will keep an eye on FOMC meeting minutes release. NFP report release is a big event scheduled for tomorrow (1:30 pm BST) and is likely to impact FX pairs and stocks. Analysts expect the unemployment rate to drop to 12.4% in comparison with 13.3% in May. This month the report will be released on Thursday due to the long weekend in the US. Besides investors will get to know weekly unemployment claims figures from the US and unemployment data from the Euro zone.