Monday: The international markets started the week on the wrong foot, as the number of infections started to increase again. Japan225 lost 3.5%, while France40 slid 2.7%. The American indices gained up to 1.43% as TECH100 did.
Oil prices fell by more than 3%.
American Express got to be the first American company to receive the payment clearance license in China. The announcement made AmEx stock price to gain 3.12% during after-hours trading.
The European stimulus matter was still under scrutiny, as the member countries couldn’t reach a consensus.
One of the world’s most significant Oil company, BP, decided to write down their assets’ value by $17.5 billion. The company didn't manage to recover after the Oil price traded negative for the first time. Besides the asset devaluation, the company will cut 15% of the workforce to reduce costs.
H&M had a decrease in sales of 50% as the latest earnings report showed, resulting from the pandemic. The stock price fell by 0.31%.
Tuesday: The banks' decisions pushed markets and future economic recovery. USA30 gained 2%, while in Europe UK100 added 2.3% and Germany30 increased by 2.1%. The number of COVID-19 infections started to rise again in China.
Gold traded at $1,735.90 per ounce after it added 0.4%.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget foresees that the federal debt could reach $4 trillion this year, as a consequence of the $2 trillion CARES Act. Moreover, President Trump wants to release another stimulus package that could go as high as $2 trillion.
Japan225 increased by approximately 5% after the BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda announced that the bank's response to the pandemic's effects is in force until March 2021 could be expended.
Wednesday: The American and Asian benchmark retreaded due to the new infection cases. USA500 lost 0.36%. HongKong45 fell 1.21%. ASX slid 1.32%.
Facebook addressed the political ads situation that went on for some years, and implemented a “turn-off” feature, and also a “Voting Information Center.” These come in force as the 2020 presidential election approaches. Moreover, it will be used to rule out disinformation.
Thursday: The $2 billion merger between Google and Fitbit is under scrutiny over the world, raising concerns about data privacy.
Even though the states reopened, the number of unemployed people was still high according to the most recent report provided by the Department of Labor; more than 1.5 million people became unemployed in just one week.
Thursday wasn’t a good day for currency pairs: USD/JPY lost 0.11% to 106.84, while USD/CNY stayed put at 7.0864. GBP/USD almost reached a two-week low at $1.2403.
The Dollar Index ended at 97.373 after it shed 0.03%.
Friday: The British bank HSBC reiterated the fact that it will resume its restructuring plans, and it will cut 35,000 jobs; its goal is to reduce costs by $4.5 billion by 2022. Since the beginning of 2020, the stock price fell 27%.
Wirecard lost 43% during the Friday trading session, as the company cannot provide proof of the 2019 Q4 profits. Almost 2 billion EUR is missing from two foreign banks that allegedly were working with the German company.
Bank of Russia’s interest rate reached the lowest point after the Soviet Union dismantling after as it made a 100 bps cut to 4.50%.
Sources: ft.com, investing.com, cnbc.com, forexfactory.com, finance.yahoo.com, marketwatch.com