The number of total patients with the coronavirus in the world is approaching 2.5 million - a milestone that may be surpassed by the day’s end. The United States alone is home to almost 800,000 cases. More might be registered after the government approves of another round of stimulus, which would also include funding for more tests.
The spread of the disease seems to be slowing down in Europe. Many countries of the European Union have stated that they plan to begin relaxing the lockdown and quarantine measures which have paralyzed the economy over the last two months. May might very well be the month of change for the region.
Today the US dollar remains the strongest currency in the world. As more and more fundamentals for the month of March, where the whole world was most heavily hit by the coronavirus, are expected, the demand for the dollar as a safe investment asset has boosted its value. Even as the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States has slashed rates and has released more stimulus packages than any other central bank at present, the USD remains high in value.
The oil market remains in turmoil after the world is quickly running out of storage space to keep oil for future delivery. The global pandemic has caused a major hit to the demand for oil, leading to a critically oversupplied market.
Yesterday the price for oil crashed all the way to negative $37 per barrel for the May futures; the June futures still remain above zero, trading around $20. Recall that the newest agreement by OPEC+ countries is to cut oil extraction from May, so right now many countries are free to pump as much oil as they decide.
It is not impossible to see a similar crash happen with the June contracts, considering the pandemic will have long-lasting effects. Oil will remain volatile in the near future.
Meanwhile, yesterday’s major drop in oil prices increased the demand for gold as another way to hedge risk. This morning, however, gold is on the downside, undergoing a correction after yesterday’s climb. Gold futures are trading near 1,705 USD right now.
