The biggest news today is that the President of the United States has contracted the coronavirus. Donald Trump and his wife both tested positive for Covid-19 after one of Trump’s most important aides revealed she had the virus the previous day. Trump and the First Lady are already in quarantine in the White House, but Capitol Hill is in chaos.
Other officials that have been in contact with the President are getting tested, including VP Mike Pence. In addition, Democratic Nominee Joe Biden will also need to get tested after being in the same room as Trump during Tuesday’s debate.
Stock indices around the globe have taken a tumble following this news. Market pessimism is on the rise. Expect that only safe havens will perform well today as investors double down on the risk-off sentiment. The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc especially are gaining more ground today.
Furthermore, Congress is still not ready with a new stimulus package after more than two months of negotiations. Earlier this week it was reported that the White House and the Democrat-dominated House of Representatives are narrowing the gap, inching closer to an agreement, but the talks have yet to yield any concrete results.
In terms of the economic calendar, today Japan published an unemployment rate report which met the forecast of 3%. In addition, inflation reports from Europe disappointed investors, indicating that the core inflation rate has dropped to 0.2% in September in the eurozone, much lower than the forecast of 0.5%.
Later in the day we expect the official unemployment rate September report from the United States, together with the non-farm payrolls and Michigan consumer sentiment survey and projections.
