• Impressive earnings from US tech giants
• US coronavirus bill unemployment relief runs out today
• Florida death toll reached record levels
• US coronavirus bill unemployment relief runs out today
• Florida death toll reached record levels
European indices finished final session of the week lower dragged down by rising number of coronavirus cases and concerns over an economic recovery. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the country will slow down its efforts to reopen the economy. Last night, some parts of northern England were forced to re-impose some lockdown measures due to a spike in coronavirus infections. Also recent weak economic data showed the Eurozone contracted by the most on record due to the pandemic, with all major economies reporting record slumps in output. DAX 30 dropped 0.5%, CAC 40 fell 1.4%, FTSE 100 closed down 1.5%.
US indices are trading mixed as concerns about the economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic overshadowed early euphoria from upbeat quarterly earnings reports by Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Dow Jones fell as Chevron and Exxon Mobil reported second-quarter losses and Caterpillar posted a 70% drop in earnings. According to Refinitiv IBES data, the earnings season in the second quarter has already passed the halfway point, with about 82.4% of companies that have reported beating significantly lowered estimates. The latest news from the political front weighed on market sentiment. Negotiations regarding the additional stimulus package reached an impasse and the Senate adjourned for the weekend and will return on Monday, despite the fact the $600-a-week supplement to unemployment benefits ended Friday. Meantime COVID -19 continues to spread quickly across the US. Nearly 1.8 million new cases were recorded in July. Florida, with over 300,000 new cases is the worst affected state, followed by California and Texas with about 250,000 each. Death toll is also rising quickly. Number of fatalities in July rose at least 19% to over 152,000 total. For the fourth day in a row, the state of Florida is reporting a record number of coronavirus related deaths. On Friday, the state reported 257 more deaths, breaking the previous record of 253 deaths, which was set yesterday, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Spot gold hit new all-time high of $1,983 per ounce on Friday after the United States joined Japan, Germany and the UK in reporting its worst economic slump of modern times thanks to the second quarter's Coronavirus pandemic and shutdowns. Meantime silver managed to partially recover yesterday losses and is trading around $24.30 per ounce.
A lot of Manufacturing PMI indices data from the Eurozone will be released on Monday. US Manufacturing PMI and ISM manufacturing are key readings scheduled for US session. On the earnings front HSBC Holdings plc, Heineken N.V., Siemens Healthineers AG, Global Payments Inc. will publish their quarterly results.
EURUSD – bounced off the key resistance zone at 1.1912 and is currently testing major support at 1.18. If buyers manage to stop declines there, a bullish signal would be generated. On the other hand, a break lower may pave the way for a bigger downward correction with a potential target around 1.17. Source: xStation5
