Today has been a moderately busy day on the financial markets. In the morning investors learned that the unemployment rate in France is lower than expected, at 7.1% against a forecast of 8.3%. In addition, the inflation rate in Germany met the forecasts of -0.1%. Overall, data from the European Union has been consistent or even better than anticipated, showing that an economic recovery is taking place.
In the United States, the continuing jobless claims were slightly lower than anticipated and came in at 15.4 million versus a forecast of 15.8 million. In addition, the initial jobless claims were under a million for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic reached the United States.
It also appears that the second week of August is going to end without an agreement on a new stimulus bill in the United States, which is pressuring the US stock markets.
Still, the markets also breathed a short sigh of relief as Donald Trump announced he will not be imposing new tariffs on European goods entering the US, except for a short list of products from France and Germany.
The US President found another way to surprise investors, however, by announcing the end of some of the regulations on harmful gas emissions in the United States. The move has been decried as terrible as it rolls back some of the measures aimed at slowing down climate change. Nevertheless, for Trump the decision presents an opportunity to win over voters from states where the gas and oil industries are dominant.
In terms of the pandemic, today the number of cases registered worldwide reached 20.8 million. The United States, Brazil, and India continue to record massive daily increases, though the US statistics seem to have stabilized under 60,000 for now.
Spain, France, and Germany are experiencing new increases in the thousands, but so far there has not been any talk of new lockdowns in Europe.
