Today investors will continue to closely watch data regarding the labor market in the United States. In particular, we expect the non-farming payrolls report today, forecasted at a drop of 8 million. This number would still be objectively bad, but it is much better than the previous negative of over 20 million.
In conjunction with that report, we are also waiting for the official unemployment rate from the US. Investors expect unemployment to have risen to 19.8%, which is a high typically only seen after major wars, indicating just how devastating the pandemic was for the economy.
On the other hand, economic sentiment is improving in Europe. The latest boost for the European economy came after the ECB announced it will bump up its asset purchasing program to offer an additional 600 billion euro worth of stimulus. This news boosted European stock indices, as well as the euro itself. Nevertheless, the long-term prognosis for the eurozone remains grim, with economic growth expected to decline by almost 9% in 2020.
Today we are also seeing more signs of stabilization on the oil market after OPEC+ member states agreed to keep their production cuts in place at least until the end of July. There will be another meeting to confirm this decision tomorrow, but no surprises are expected. The price of the Brent crude reached $41.20, while the WTI climbed to $38.24 today.
Last but not least, we bring you an update on the coronavirus situation. The number of Covid-19 cases globally currently stands at 6.7 million. The United States is approaching 2 million cases. Brazil comes in second with 615,000, followed closely by Russia with 450,000. Infections in Russia are still growing at the fastest pace of all countries in the world, so this number will likely keep increasing over the next couple of weeks.
