The first report of today was Japan’s inflation rate for October, which decreased more than expected and amounted to -0.4%. This disappointment is in stark contrast to the upbeat economic data published in Japan over the past few days.
The United Kingdom, however, surprised investors with positive data when it came to its public sector borrowing and retail sales reports. Despite all the measures in place against the coronavirus over the past weeks, this data proves that at least some segments of the UK economy are healthy.
In other news, the coronavirus pandemic remains the most pressing topic for the markets. The world has now seen over 57.3 million Covid-19 infections.
The United States officially surpassed the 12 million mark of coronavirus cases. Yesterday the country saw its biggest daily increase in infections, confirming over 192,000 new cases.
In light of the seriousness of the situation in the United States, the CDC issued a recommendation that Americans stay home for Thanksgiving, a holiday where many people typically travel around the country to be with their families. Other holiday-related long weekends previously in 2020 have contributed to sharp increases in Covid-19 infections, so the CDC is hoping to prevent a Thanksgiving superspreader.
With infections and hospitalizations on the rise, the entire state of California is now under curfew starting at 10 PM. Many American states have tried to implement their own counter-Covid-19 measures while Trump’s administration refuses to order a national lockdown.
President Trump is still trying to delegitimize the election results. Tonight he is set to meet with legal representatives from Michigan, where he is hoping to stop the certification of the final results. Michigan is one of five states that voted for Trump in 2016 but flipped over to Biden in 2020.
Trump’s administration is also in hot water over the Federal Reserve now. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tried to limit the Fed’s efforts to provide fiscal stimulus, which the central bank has argued is important during the crisis.
The US stock indices today are on the downturn, which has been the more consistent trend this week. It’s still worth paying attention to pharmaceutical companies. Moderna and Pfizer are doing well thanks to their Covid-19 vaccines, but Gilead is likely going to take a hit after the World Health Organization announced that its remdesivir drug is not effective against the novel coronavirus.
