The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has surpassed 191.8 million as of today. There were about 420,000 new cases confirmed yesterday, slightly lower than the recent peaks above 500K. Still, there is a lot of apprehension about Covid-19 continuing to spread among the unvaccinated population and potentially requiring new lockdowns this autumn.
Infections are on the rise in the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Indonesia, Japan, and many parts of South America. The number of cases is not alarming yet, except for Indonesia, Spain, and the UK, but after a year and a half of being stuck in a global pandemic, people expect the situation to get worse rather than better right now.
Compared to yesterday, however, we are likely going to deal with a much calmer market today. European stocks have recovered slightly, and even US Treasury bond yields are doing somewhat better today after their massive drop yesterday. The dollar index is back below 93.
Bitcoin, one of the most risk-loving assets out there (and one of the most volatile ones), dropped below $30,000 due to Covid-19 fears. Other cryptocurrencies are faring similarly.
In terms of international stocks, investors right now are fleeing from Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, which is suspected to be in deep financial trouble.
At the same time, US pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen are doing better as they seem to be nearing a settlement in the lawsuits the US government has filed against them regarding their role in the opioid crisis.
Other companies to keep an eye on today include IBM, which reported really good earnings yesterday, and streaming giant Netflix, which is going to report how it did in Q2 today.
There is only one interesting highlight in the economic calendar today - inflation data from Japan. The reports met the forecasts, showing growth of about 0.2% in June.
