Politics is the hottest buzzword on the financial markets on Thursday, October 15.
In Europe, the leaders of EU member states are gathering for a two-day European Council summit. Investors will be following the meeting keenly, as it will be decisive in many regards, including on issues such as Brexit (whether there will be another attempt to reach a trade agreement with the UK or not), and ramping up the bloc’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The spread of Covid-19 is an especially pressing issue for Europe at the moment, as the continent is seeing cases rise far more than they did in March and April, when the peak of the first wave of the pandemic occurred. Countries like Spain, France, and the United Kingdom have already implemented strict measures though they are trying to stay away from the complete lockdowns used early on in 2020 to contain the virus. Nevertheless, as Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel warned, tighter restrictions might be necessary because the current policies are not efficient enough.
Yesterday the number of coronavirus patients in France rose by a record 22,000, while the UK saw over 19,000 new cases. The trend of new infections is also up in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, and many other countries in Europe.
Both European stock indices and the euro itself have weakened due to the increasing threat the coronavirus poses to the region and its economy.
Meanwhile, in the United States Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be holding competing town hall events on national television in lieu of their second debate. Recall that the joint debate was canceled after Trump announced he won’t participate in an online format. The two separate events will be closely followed by investors, as would be the public’s response to them. With less than three weeks until the elections, the markets are hungry for any indication of who the winner might be.
In addition, as is typical of any regular Thursday, today we expect initial and continuing jobless claims reports from the United States. There will also be several Federal Reserve speeches.
