The coronavirus pandemic continues to get worse. As of now, there have been 44.3 million cases worldwide, of which around 460,000 were registered yesterday. The United States had over 75,000 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, officially making it the first country with more than 9 million infections.
The numbers also continue to climb at an alarming rate in India, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Spain, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
Many countries in Europe have implemented curfews for people and businesses. Germany is reportedly considering closing down bars and restaurants altogether for the next several weeks in order to encourage social distancing, the single most effective way to prevent spreading the virus, according to the World Health Organization.
Thanks to the pandemic, market sentiment today remains depressed, with no appetite for risk whatsoever. Both European and American stock indices today are on the downturn due to the coronavirus situation. US indices were unable to benefit from the better-than-expected earnings report from Microsoft.
Due to the current risk aversion sentiment dominating the financial markets, the dollar, among other safe haven assets, has strengthened.
Because of the appreciation of the dollar, Turkey is once again in the midst of an economic crisis and the lira is crashing day after day due to rampant inflation. This time around the developing country’s woes might be more dangerous because Turkey has lost most of its international allies.
In other news, crude oil is also under pressure due to the strengthening of the dollar and the expected massive drop in demand caused by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The WTI has dropped to $37.81, while the Brent crude is barely holding at $40.05 per barrel.
