The total number of coronavirus cases in the world surpassed 3 million today. The United States alone is home to almost one million cases, while the second and third place are taken by Spain and Italy, respectively. The WHO suspects that Italy has already reached the peak of the outbreak. Spain is expected to have done so as well, though last week there were many new cases registered. Right now the country with the most accelerated growth of new Covid-19 cases is Russia, where the outbreak just began much later than in other countries.
The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still not entirely clear, as the crisis is not yet over. Still, investors are trying to estimate it by looking at the results of fundamental reports from all of the affected countries. The United Kingdom today announced that its current GDP reports might not be fully accurate, however, and will instead publish them together with set margins of error, which has not been done before.
Right now the markets are exciting about news that the coronavirus pandemic might be approaching its end. Many countries in Europe are beginning to relax the measures put in place to protect people from the virus. This will essentially reopen their economies and foster growth. More central bank action this week could also boost the markets if new stimulus plans are revealed.
Today we are seeing an uptick in European stocks. The stock indices in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are all on the rise. The collective Stoxx 600 has grown by 1.8% already today. Gold is also a huge winner today, having climbed to $1,736.
Crude oil, however, continues to be a matter of concern for investors. After May futures crashed, investors turned to oil for June delivery. But with storage space quickly running out in the United States, there is a high risk that the June futures will also crash sharply down. Today we find the WTI at $14.66, while the Brent crude remains higher at $23.61, since the storage issue is not as pressing in Europe.
