Today we observe a broad rally in the financial markets. US stock indices are all in the green, bolstered by progress in Congress regarding approving Joe Biden’s stimulus proposal, which in turn will fuel a speedy economic recovery in the United States and the global economy.
One notable development among stocks is the decline in the value of South Korean carmakers Hyundai and Kia, who were previously in talks with Apple regarding building self-driving cars. It appears that the negotiations have fallen apart, hence the blow to both companies.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been quiet in that regard. However, he has used his social media channels to hype up cryptocurrencies recently, so Bitcoin, Ethereum, and DogeCoin are gaining in value today.
In addition, the coronavirus pandemic appears to be winding down. The United States reported under 90,000 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, its lowest number since early November. The total number of daily cases in Europe is also more than twice lower than it was at the end of 2020, fueling optimism that the pandemic will come to an end sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden is beginning to give indications about his foreign policy work, something that has so far stayed in the background due to the importance of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a recent interview, Biden spoke about his plans about China, a major trade partner of the United States, whom Donald Trump spent nearly four years antagonizing. Biden said that he disagrees with Trump’s tone regarding China, but that there is a need to create more of an international level playing field where it comes to trade. Thus, he will be looking to challenge China in that regard but not in the aggressive, tariff-heavy way that Trump attempted.
Furthermore, Biden set the tone for the US relationship with Iran as well. He said that he will not approach the government regarding another deal unless Iran stops enriching uranium of its own accord first. It is now up to Iran to decide if it needs to give the US such a show of goodwill or if it doesn’t want another nuclear deal anymore.
Because this means sanctions on Iranian oil exports are staying in place for now, crude oil prices managed to break above $60, at least for the Brent crude. The WTI remains close behind at $57.52 per barrel.
