Today it seems that the mood among investors is turning pessimistic once again. The boom that began on Monday with Pfizer’s announcement that its coronavirus vaccine works has faded, not the least bit because Pfizer’s CEO sold much of the company’s stock immediately after the news broke. The markets are gradually adapting to the fact that the pandemic is not going anywhere anytime soon and will remain a pressure factor.
As of now, there have been over 52.5 million Covid-19 cases globally. 10.7 million of those are in the United States, where another record-breaking increase of 142,000 new cases was marked yesterday.
India and Brazil also remain Covid-19 hotspots, with each registering at least 45,000 new cases on Wednesday.
The dark cloud of coronavirus worry is also hanging above Europe. Despite multiple nation-wide lockdowns, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain are still confirming thousands upon thousands of new cases.
The negative effects of the pandemic are already visible in the fundamental reports coming from the affected regions. The United Kingdom, which is in the midst of its worst outbreak so far in 2020, failed to meet all GDP forecasts today and is seeing an increase in unemployment.
As for the United States, home of the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, the inflation rate dropped in October to 1.2% YoY, with a monthly rate of 0% for the past month. However, initial and continuing jobless claims reports were better than anticipated.
The mood on the stock market is also quite subdued today. All major indices are dropping in value.
Another important development today is that the heads of three of the most important central banks will be speaking about their future monetary policy plans. The ECB’s Christine Lagarde already hinted that the bank will not adjust interest rates further and would instead offer stimulus via asset purchasing.
The Federal Reserve’s Chief Jerome Powell’s statements will be of more interest, as the central bank might rely on more government spending under Joe Biden next year.
The Bank of England’s governor Andrew Bailey will also be speaking, and may reveal whether the BoE is considering negative interest rates in its plans.
