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COVID-19 still has control over the markets - Weekly Review, September 21-25

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Miguel A. Rodriguez
Miguel A. Rodriguez
28 septiembre 2020
Scandals have shaken the banking sector

Monday & Tuesday: The hope of the new US stimulus package disappeared, making USA30 fall 2.28%, and USA500 lose 1.765. 

In Europe, the new spike in COVID-19 infections made UK100 reach a two-week low as it fell 2.4%. Germany30 lost 2%.

Some of the largest banks in the world, JPMorgan, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and many more, appear to have been involved in a $2 trillion scandal regarding illicit transactions that have been associated with money-laundering and suspicious transactions for corrupt people and billionaires in Libya, Sudan, Venezuela. 

HSBC lost 5.5%, while Deutsche Bank fell 8%.

Microsoft is looking to expand in the videogame sector and to do so, it acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. The deal is said to cost Microsoft $7.5 billion. Following the news, Microsoft stock price ended 1% higher. 

Wednesday: The decreases reported by the FAANG group, and Tesla made the US tech-specialized benchmark TECH100 lose 2.28%.

Oil added 1.2% to $40.30 per barrel, while Brent went up 1.1% to $42.20. 

Nike reported the figures for the first quarter of fiscal 2021, and the results came in higher-than-expected. For the quarter, it had revenues of $10.59 billion and a net income of $1.52 billion. The women apparel division reported a 200% increase, which contributed to the 82% gains in overall digital sales. After the news, Nike stock price gained 8%.

The US-China tensions are in the way of a possible TikTok – Oracle & Walmart deal. Mainland China opposes the deal, considering it to be "dirty" and "unfair." 

Bank of America is trying to raise money to fund black and Hispanic minority-owned businesses, low-carbon activities, and renewable energy investments. So far, from selling bonds, the bank has managed to raise $2 billion. The bank stock price lost 2.17% after the news. 

Thursday: In Asia, the economic recovery seems to happen only in the wealthy coastal regions. Japan225 lost 0.78%, while HongKong45 was down 1.91%.

Cisco is determined to increase the global Black representation inside the company by 2023. Also, it will launch the $100 million venture-capital fund, Aspire Fund, meant to invest in start-ups and scholarships to historically black colleges and universities. 

Google is reconsidering its strategy regarding work-from-home. It is launching a new feature of Google Maps – one that will show the number of infections in a specific geographic region. After the news, its stock price fell more than 3.40%.

The US Department of Labor showed that 870,000 people filed for unemployment benefits in the past week. The market was looking for 845,000. USA30 lost 0.7% after the report. 

FridayJPMorgan Chase was fined with almost $1 billion, after a case from September 2019 showed that some bank employees had been involved in a scheme designed to manipulate the precious metals markets and defraud clients. The bank closed the trading session 0.09% lower. 

Costco gloated in the pandemic, as the figures for the fourth fiscal quarter showed. Its same-store sales had an 11.4% increase – the most significant in two decades. Costco's revenue was $163.2 billion, 9.3% higher compared to last year's figures. 

Westpac has been involved in illicit transfers that indicated potential child exploitation. The Australian bank received a $920 million fine. After the breaking news, it lost 1%.  

Amazon is determined to compete side by side with Microsoft and Sony in the cloud gaming service. Luna – the service developed by Amazon will soon be available as a web app for Apple devices. Upon the news, Amazon stock price gained 0.50%.

Read all about these events on CAPEX.com!

Sources: marketwatch.com, investing.com, finance.yahoo.com, edition.cnn.com

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Miguel A. Rodriguez
Miguel A. Rodriguez
financial_writer

Miguel comenzó su destacada carrera profesional en reputadas instituciones financieras como el Banco Santander y el Banco Central-Hispano. Es autor de importantes libros sobre trading en el mercado de divisas.