The fears of an escalation in the conflict between the United States and China continue. After Donald Trump repeatedly blamed China for the spread of the novel coronavirus and after the US government heavily criticized China for passing a new security law to limit Hong Kong’s freedoms, now a US senator is also spreading rumors that China is trying to stop other countries from developing a vaccine for Covid-19.
China has stated that it would like to see what evidence there is to support these claims, but so far the senator has not shared it.
The total number of coronavirus instances in the world has surpassed 7 million. The United States alone has had over 2 million Covid-19 cases. The numbers continue to increase in Brazil and Russia; we might see a million in the former if the situation does not approve in the next few weeks.
In terms of the oil market, today things are moving in a positive direction. Over the weekend OPEC+ member states agreed to keep the current production cuts in place until the end of next month.
Moreover, there is evidence that China’s oil demand is also increasing, which is helping the long-term outlook for the oil market. Thus, we are seeing oil prices increasing to $39.87 and $42.81 for the WTI and the Brent crude, respectively.
Today there will also be more news on the monetary policy of EU countries, as Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, will testify before Parliament. Lagarde will most likely be questioned on the issue of economic stimulus and the ECB’s latest expansion of the asset purchasing program.
In other news, the stock markets are doing well today. The current sentiment among investors is positive due to countries’ showing signs of recovery after the pandemic. The conflict between the US and China is casting a shadow on things, but there have not been any serious escalations there yet, so for now we see growth and high risk appetite.
