Europe
Earlier today, the European Central bank announced that it would expand its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) by 600 billion Euros to fight the effects of the pandemic on the European economies.
The purchasing program will continue until June 2021, and the maturing PEPP securities will be invested at least until the end of 2022.
Moreover, the ECB is not the only one who is eager to fight the pandemic, but also the German Chancellor Angel Merkel. According to Bloomberg News, her coalition approved a stimulus package of 130 billion Euros. The move is shocking because the German fiscal prudence is well-known. After last month it paired with France to create a European Union-wide recovery fund worth 750 billion Euros.
The European benchmarks are trading lower, with UK100, Spain35, and Germany30 losing nearly 0.60%.
The US
The newest report from the Department of Labor showed a decrease in the number of people who filed for unemployment claims for the first time, but even though the reported figure is lower than before, it’s still higher than what analysts expected.
Last week, 1.877 million people filed for unemployment due to the pandemic, more than the expected 1.820 million.
Even though states begin to reopen after more than three months, and some people resume their activities, the unemployment rate is expected to be close to 20% for May.
The American benchmarks USA30 and USA500 were set to open lower.
Sources: cnbc.com, forexfactory.com, marketwatch.com