The world continues to watch the coronavirus statistics as investors fear a second round of the devastating pandemic. The total number of Covid-19 cases has surpassed 9.5 million today. The United States, which was supposed to be done with the pandemic, added another 38,000 new cases yesterday. Brazil had 40,000 new Covid-19 infections, while India had close to 17,000.
All in all, Latin America, Russia, and Central Asia are currently still undergoing the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, all with worrisome numbers. Meanwhile, the US is showing the most alarming signs of a second wave, though it is possible that this is in fact the first wave which hasn’t ended because the country rushed to end its lockdowns too early.
Other countries in Europe are also seeing new infections after easing the quarantine measures but none of the magnitude of what is going on in the United States. European countries are preparing to impose a travel ban on people coming from the US, Russia, and other heavily affected regions.
Moreover, even within the United States, some states are imposing quarantines for people coming from other, more affected parts of the country. For instance, while New York was the worst affected state before, at present the US Sun Belt is much more heavily affected by the pandemic, so states like Florida, Texas, and California are high-risk areas.
Aside from news about the pandemic, today we expect another round of unemployment data from the United States in the form of initial and continuing jobless claims reports. So far these two fundamentals have always lagged behind the forecasts.
The US stock market remains in a bad condition due to the panic selling caused by the fears of the further spread of the coronavirus. Safe havens like the dollar and the JPY are doing better than other assets today.
