Friday the 13th for the financial markets has so far been grim, due to factors developing over the entire week.
First of all, the coronavirus still continues spreading. While new patient numbers in China continue dropping, indicating the outbreak is past its peak in Asia, European countries are affected more and more each day. Many EU member states are closing down schools and universities, and cancelling public events to prevent the spread of the virus, hoping that it would not affect as many people as it has in Italy.
The number of new cases of Covid-19 in the United States is also supposed to have increased. However, due to an issue with not enough testing kits, and not enough health insurance coverage, it is suspected that many people might have the virus and go unregistered.
Still, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that a plan to address the situation is almost ready. Pelosi and her team are negotiating the special measures with Trump’s administration.
After a few miserable days for the stock markets this week, today US indices are finally beginning to recover, largely on hopes that the government will implement its plan to tackle the outbreak soon. They were also boosted by the Federal Reserve’s announcement of another stimulus package yesterday to help improve market liquidity.
