In the United States, the Senate agreed on another stimulus package of nearly $500 billion. The funds will be used to finance the businesses that have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic and the strict lockdowns it has necessitated. It also includes more spending on healthcare, specifically Covid-19 testing kits, which the United States has struggled to provide to everyone in the past.
Before the bill comes into effect, however, it needs to also be approved by the House of Representatives. The House is dominated by the Democrats, who have raised concerns that the package does too little to address the testing issue or to support hospitals. They might try to revise the bill.
Oil prices are not as volatile today, but they remain at extremely low levels. After the May contracts crashed completely, now all eyes are on oil for June delivery. The WTI has retreated to $11.54, while the Brent crude reached $19.69. US oil is facing more pressure in general because the United States is running out of storage space for oil.
Moreover, the stock market is recovering due to growing optimism among investors that the world is beginning to see the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Many of the more heavily affected European countries may have reached the peak of the outbreak already and are preparing to reopen their economies. The United States will be next in line to peak and reopen.
In terms of hard numbers, the world surpassed 2.5 million cases overnight. The US leads the charge with over 815,000 thousand cases. Spain has the most Covid-19 infections in Europe, at nearly 209,000.
