Daily summary: Stocks plummet as Covid-19 cases in the US are on the rise

• Global stocks turn negative in the afternoon

• Texas rolls back its reopening

• Gold soars amid rising uncertainty

Today investors might have witnessed how one headline turned out to be a catalyst for global stocks. Throughout the day one could see as equities were gaining and momentum was clearly accelerating. However, the pullback started as Texas Governor announced that he will roll back some of the state’s reopening. As a result, most European indices closed the session lower. DAX was down 0.73% while Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.46%. 

Major US indices opened slightly below yesterday’s close prices. Still, American equities seem vulnerable as the number of new coronavirus cases and hospitalisations in the US is on the rise these days. As new coronavirus reports are being released, US stocks are trading lower roughly 2% at press time. News from Texas served as a major catalyst today. 

As far as economic data is concerned, investors were offered a wide variety of reports. In the morning we saw a set of retail sales reports from Europe. In Spain the reading turned out to be even worse than expected as retail sales fell in May a staggering 19.0% YoY. In the afternoon U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis published personal income and spending data as well as Core PCE report - these results might be viewed as mixed. Moreover, Michigan Consumer Expectations index was revised down to 78.1 in June (preliminary reading: 78.9).

The beginning of the next week will bring us some CPI data from Europe. One might also be interested in retail sales report from Japan for the month of May. Apart from that, pending home sales from the US as well as building permits from Canada will provide some insight into the housing market. 

Gold is trying to recover from the recent pullback. As uncertainty concerning Covid-19 is on the rise, investors tend to flee towards the yellow metal. In such conditions, the latest peak from June may be at risk. Source: xStation5