Following a muddled, rocky week, Monday got off to a spritely start, as investors turned a blind eye to the bulk of the latest covid-19 headlines, instead cherry picking the most optimistic news items – pretty much a requirement at the moment if you want to see some green.
Firstly, the bad news. The WHO has just reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the USA, Brazil, India and South Africa helping to drive 230,370 new cases in the space of 24 hours.
In the United States specifically Florida finds itself slipping further and further into a truly scary situation, with 15,299 new cases on Sunday – no state has seen a higher one-day figure since covid-19 reached American shores.
And any long-term hopes for ‘herd immunity’ – a buzz phrase at the start of the pandemic, especially in the UK – were dealt a major blow, with tests showing the number of antibodies in people who have recovered from covid-19 fall below immunity levels after a few months.
BUT, Chinese car sales were up 11.61% year-on-year, so phew, crisis averted.
Granted, with a 3rd month of consecutive growth, that bodes well for Thursday’s 2nd quarter GDP reading, which could show the Chinese economy bouncing back by 2.2%, from Q1’s 6.8% contraction.
And it wasn’t just the Chinese automobile industry giving the markets a boost. The latest trial results from Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD) showed further evidence that remdisivr is effective at reducing the risk of death in severely ill coronavirus patients. A shame, then, that the US has secured the world stock of the antiviral drug until the start of October at the earliest...
Regardless of the myriad reasons not to, Europe came out of the gates hot. The FTSE shot up 1.5%, putting 6200 back in its sights, with the DAX crossing 12800 following a 190 point climb, and the CAC passing 5000 on the back of a 1.3% rise.
Currently the Dow Jones is heading for a slighter tamer open, though a 0.7% increase would still lift it above 26250.
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