Tonight Vice President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump will face each other in their first live debate. Though the conditions for the debate are slightly altered due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two will meet in person.
Tonight’s face-off comes only two days after Donald Trump’s startling tax revelations as leaked by the New York Times; the issue is likely going to occupy a good portion of the debate. Other topics likely to come up are the coronavirus pandemic, as Trump’s administration has been repeatedly accused of handling it poorly, as well as the recent protests against racial inequality that have erupted around the entirety of the United States.
In anticipation of the debate (which will likely have an effect on the polls), US stock indices today are likely to not experience any changes. The stalemate in Congress over the new stimulus bill could depress the markets further, so growth today is completely out of the question.
Today the economic calendar is relatively rich. Earlier in the day it became clear that Germany’s inflation rate decreased more than expected to -0.2% in September, though the economic sentiment in France and the eurozone as a whole has improved. Later in the day there will be a multitude of reports from Federal Reserve representatives, as well as the consumer confidence figure for September in the US.
The coronavirus continues to wreak havoc around the world. The number of cases globally has surpassed 33.5 million, with over 1 million deaths. Cases are continuing to rise in Europe and the United Kingdom. In the United States, VP Mike Pence said the country should prepare for another rise in infections. Nevertheless, India is seeing steady decreases in its daily infection rate, moving away from the all-time highs it set earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a new conflict is brewing, as Azerbaijan and Armenia began fighting. Their warring is going to affect two of the most interesting currencies in the developing markets, the Turkish lira and the Russian ruble. The reason for this is that Turkey supports Azerbaijan, while Russia is on the side of Armenia.
