Today it became known that the United States and China have succeeded in holding their trade-related telephone conference, which was previously postponed. The meeting had as its goal to discuss the phase-one agreement.
Investors were apprehensive about it, since Donald Trump had previously expressed his frustration that China has not stuck to its promises. Nevertheless, both sides issued positive statements after the call, indicating that the United States is willing to excuse China for now, considering that the coronavirus pandemic and all of its negative effects on the global economy were not accounted for in the original agreement.
Speaking of the pandemic, today the number of Covid-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 23.8 million. The United States’ digits are sitting at just under 6 million, with 40,000 new cases added yesterday. Though that is considerably higher than the previous day, it is still way below the July records, keeping investors hopeful that the outbreak in America might be finally coming to an end.
Thanks to optimism about the pandemic coming to an end and the negotiations between the United States and China going well, today the stock markets are stable, making gains.
The news was also good in Europe, where German GDP performed better than expected, coming in at -11.3% versus a forecast of -11.7% in the second quarter. The Ifo business climate index was also higher than expected at 92.6, showing that the EU’s biggest economy is recovering.
Last but not least, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index in the United States officially reshuffled its portfolio. The index removed Exxon Mobil, one of the oldest and biggest oil companies in the world, together with several other listings. The move was necessary to make room for more tech-based stocks in the index, as the DJIA is trying to adapt to the ever-changing market.
