The dovish comments from Federal Reserve and growing fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections sent the global markets tumbling Thursday, pulling the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 1,800 points, its worst day since March. The S&P 500 posted its worst loss since March after three consecutive days of losses.
EQUITIES
Asian markets fell on Friday after an overnight plunge on Wall Street, the Hang Seng index dropped 2.16%, and the Shanghai Composite down more than 1%, the Nikkei 225 slipped 2.05% while the Topix index fell 2.24%. On Thursday, in Wall Street the Dow collapsed 6.9 per cent, the S&P 500 dived 5.9 per cent and the NASDAQ tanked 5.3 per cent from a record high.
OIL
Crude Oil prices fell for a second consecutive trading session due to worries about weak global energy demand and fears mount about the second wave of US virus infections.
CURRENCIES
Commodity currencies like the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar slightly recovered from the previous session losses. South Korean Won Appreciates against the dollar after the Bank of Korea said today that it will continue to deliver more stimulus into the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.
GOLD
The gold prices trading steady on Friday over concerns of the second wave of coronavirus infections. The yellow metal currently supported by $1726/$1730 and on the other side $1740/$1748.
Economic Outlook
On the data front, UK’s April month GDP dropped well below -18.4% forecast to -20.4% and manufacturing production plunged at a record 28.5 per cent year-on-year in April of 2020, following a 9.7 per cent drop in March. On Thursday, during the North American session, the US Unemployment Claims reported for last week decreased to 1.542M from the expected 1.550M.
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration is weighing a second round of stimulus payments for Americans as part of an economic relief package Congress is likely to consider next month.
Coronavirus Update:
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus around the world surpassed 7.5 million, of which more than 4, 23,086 died and 3,835,183 recovered. The US reported the highest deaths (1, 13,803), followed by the UK (41,364), Brazil (40,919), and Italy (34,167). The US remains the worst-affected country worldwide, passing 2 million infections on Thursday. Spikes have been recorded in several states, including Arizona, which is confirming more than 1,000 cases daily India reported 10,956 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the highest single-day increase so far. The total number of reported coronavirus infections now stands at 297,535 with 8,498 deaths.
Technical Outlook
EUR/USD: During the European session the pair rebounded to above 1.1330 after it slipped to 1.1290 in the previous session.
The important levels to watch for today: Support- 1.1280 and 1.1240 Resistance- 1.1360 and 1.1420.
AUD/USD: The currency pair slightly rebounded and trading below 0.69 after the biggest daily fall since the market turmoil of March.
The important levels to watch for today: Support- 0.6850 and 0.68 Resistance- 0.6930 and 0.6960.
Quote of the day: Keeping your ear to the ground in the markets is a sound investment - Amah Lambert.
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