At the end of the week the coronavirus remains the primary issue for the financial markets. The number of Covid-19 infections has surpassed 53.2 million worldwide and keeps on growing.
The United States outdid its own record for the most cases registered in one day, confirming a staggering 161,000 new infections yesterday. Local governments are beginning to take action, mostly in the form of curfews for businesses. New York City is considering making school attendance online-only if the infection rate stays this high.
Donald Trump has not spoken about the coronavirus, even as the outbreak in the United States continues to get worse and worse. In fact, the US President has not made any public appearances since last week. He still refuses to concede the election and, based on his Twitter activity, is more preoccupied with conspiracy theories about voter fraud than the pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 248,000 Americans.
The situation is almost as bad in Europe, though not quite, considering many European countries have embraced another set of lockdowns. The numbers are slowly but steadily improving for the Netherlands and Spain. However, France, Italy, and Germany are still struggling to contain the virus, despite the lockdowns. The same can be said for the United Kingdom, which had over 33,000 new Covid-19 cases yesterday alone.
Unsurprisingly, today’s GDP reports from the European Union were disappointing. The third quarter performed worse than expected, which bodes ill for Q4, which will bear the weight of the current outbreaks.
In other news, the US-China relationship is also coming into focus again. The United States blacklisted more Chinese companies that are suspected of routing funds to the Chinese military department. It remains to be seen if the more aggressive rhetoric under Trump’s leadership will continue when Joe Biden becomes president, or if some of these policies will be undone next year.
Meanwhile, the stock markets are recovering some of yesterday’s losses and today all major US indices will correct upward. The most noteworthy stock to pay attention to is Disney, which outdid investors’ expectations in the past quarter.
Oil prices are under pressure today due to a sharped dent in demand. Thanks to the pandemic and the new lockdowns across the world, people are traveling less. In addition, Libya is bumping up its oil output. The Brent crude fell to $43.14, while the WTI reached $40.63 per barrel today.
