As of Wednesday, August 4, the coronavirus remains one of the most hotly discussed topics, as the continued spread of the pandemic weighs heavily on the global economy.
The world surpassed 200 million coronavirus infections already. The global daily infection rate spiked to almost 615,000 yesterday, which is close to last week’s peaks.
The United States confirmed another 104,000 new Covid-19 infections yesterday. The outbreaks are also alarming in India, Indonesia, Iran, Brazil, France, Turkey, Russia, the UK, and Spain.
The pandemic is reportedly gathering steam in China as well, though it is difficult to judge if the officially reported numbers (90 yesterday) can be trusted. The government is shutting down local means of transportation, however, and imposing limited lockdowns in areas with active outbreaks.
Meanwhile, the United States set a precedent for handling the pandemic. The mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio announced that everyone who wishes to use indoor facilities - gyms, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, stores, government offices, etc., will need to be vaccinated and present a valid vaccination certificate.
This is officially the first time any city or region has taken such a hard stance on the coronavirus, virtually mandating that its entire population must get vaccinated (or remain at home until the end of the outbreak). It remains to be seen if other cities in the United States or elsewhere will take similar measures to limit the spread of Covid-19.
As for the stock market, all major US indices will be more or less flat today in anticipation of the second half of the week’s big data dump. Companies to keep an eye on which are going to report their quarterly earnings today include General Motors, Electronic Arts, Kraft Heinz, and more.
In other news today, cryptocurrencies are not doing super well, after comments by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States that more control is needed in order to prevent fraud and other illegal activities going on with cryptocurrency at the moment.
The most interesting event on the economic calendar today was the ADP data on employment, which unfortunately was almost half of what was forecasted, showing that the US labor market might have performed rather poorly in July. This can reorient investors before tomorrow’s jobless data and Friday’s unemployment rate and NFP report.
