• Oil price plunged on demand worries
US indices are trading lower today as markets await the first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Tuesday night. Some experts believe the first debate could have more substantial impact on the markets than later debates, and a clear victory of one candidate could possibly create a significant market moves. Meanwhile, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Democrats unveiled a new, $2.2 trillion coronavirus bill and added she will speak with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin again on Tuesday. However the date when there would be a vote on the latest proposal is still unknown. On the coronavirus front, US reported yesterday 33,037 new cases and 316 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University. New York's test positive rate just rose above 3% for the first time in months. Meanwhile Florida lifted capacity restrictions on restaurants over the weekend. Dr Anthony Fauci believes that the country is "not in a good place". On the corporate front, JPMorgan Chase (JPM.US) will have to pay a record $920 million penalty over its role in the alleged manipulation of global markets for metals and Treasurys, so-called spoofing, which is when sophisticated traders flood markets with orders that they have no intention of actually executing.
Gold hit a one-week high of $1,895 during the session while silver prices reached one-week high of $24.26 an ounce amid a subdued US dollar. Meanwhile WTI crude futures slumped more than 5% and Brent crude futures lost more than 4.5% as a surge in COVID-19 infections and fatalities worldwide raised concerns about the pace of recovery in fuel demand. Oil traders now await API data to be released later in the day