Today is a big day in terms of fundamental reports. Investors keely awaited data from the eurozone that was supposed to show just how hard the region was hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The core inflation reading was better than expected, but the GDP projections were slightly worse than the forecasts. Unemployment data from Germany was also bad, showing a big increase in the number of unemployed people and a growth of the unemployment rate to 5.8%.
In addition, the European Central Bank is holding a policy meeting today. We expect an interest rate decision and a press conference once the meeting is over. At present, no changes to the rates are expected.
Today is Thursday, so in the evening we can also expect this week’s initial jobless claims report in the United States. Last week’s numbers were reassuring that the crisis on the US labor market is improving, so investors are hoping to see a second week of decline.
For those of you keeping an eye on the stock markets, right now the shares of tech companies are performing better than expected. The pandemic did not have a negative effect on the software industry; in fact, it may have contributed to the better earnings of tech companies as people are spending more time at home and on their computers. Microsoft and Facebook both did well, and later today we expect data from Apple and Amazon.
Due to the crisis on the oil market, Shell is currently facing a lot of financial problems. Expect its share prices to go down.
Today oil prices are increasing after signs that the US is taking steps to alleviate the oversupply situation. The WTI reached $17.66, while the Brent crude climbed to $26.45 per barrel.
