Amid the markets’ preoccupation with the coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald Trump is reviving old concerns by once more turning his attention to China. Trump appears to be blaming the pandemic and its severe economic consequences on China and has threatened to impose new tariffs on the country where the coronavirus first appeared.
Regarding the pandemic, many countries are observing a slowing down in the number of newly registered cases and have likely already peaked. The United States officially surpassed 1 million Covid-19 cases and remains the most heavily affected country. Meanwhile, coronavirus cases in Russia reached almost 115,000 and continue rising. The disease is also rapidly spreading in Mexico and Brazil.
In other news, yesterday’s meeting of the European Central Bank produced a plan to reduce the cost of lending to banks. This helped stabilize the euro a bit. Moreover, the current weakness in the dollar, caused in part by Trump’s statement, is also allowing the euro to appreciate.
Moreover, investors are keeping a close eye on the stock markets as this week has been the time for many companies to publish their earnings. Yesterday the prices of both Amazon and Apple stocks dropped due to concerns about company finances and the coronavirus pandemic. Today oil companies Exxon and Chevron will be in focus.
Today there will be low activity in Europe and Asia where the markets are closed for the Labour Day holiday.
