Last Friday’s moment of respite has proven to be brief, Europe tanking on Monday morning as fears of a second wave of covid-19 cases grew.
Reporting its highest number of new cases in 2 months, Beijing officials have imposed regional lockdown measures in certain areas, with spokesman Xu Heijian warning that the risk of a sharper outbreak is ‘very high’.
And China’s not alone. Having never actually got a handle on the pandemic, the US has seen a surge in new cases in multiple states. After the situation in Texas rapidly deteriorated last week, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina have all followed suit with 3 consecutive days of record numbers. This as Trump plans to further open up the US economy.
The situation in the UK isn’t exactly great either. As non-essential shops open up and down the country, the World Health Organisation has warned that the government needs to lift the lockdown ‘gradually’ and ‘carefully’, and that a ‘robust and effective’ contract-tracing system needs to be put in place before any further measures – like reducing the 2 metre distance rule – can be relaxed.
If all this wasn’t enough, it wasn’t a great morning for Chinese data. Though fixed asset investment, industrial production and retail sales all improved month-on-month, they uniformly fell short of forecasts.
Under pressure and more than a little bit concerned, the European markets sank like a stone. Dropping 200 points the FTSE fell under 5970 for the first time in close to a month.
The DAX, meanwhile, was down 300 points to 11630, with the CAC slipping 2.6%, barely clinging onto 4700 in the process.
As for the Dow Jones, a prospective 800 point plunge suggests that there isn’t much hope on the horizon.
"Disclaimer: Spreadex provides an execution only service and the comments above do not constitute (or should not be construed as constituting) investment advice or recommendations, or a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Any person placing trades based on their interpretations of the above comments does so entirely at their own risk. Spreadex Ltd is a financial and sports spread betting and sports fixed odds betting firm, which specialises in the personal service and credit area. Founded in 1999, Spreadex is recognised as one of the longest established spread betting firms in the industry with a strong reputation for its high level of customer service and account management.
In relation to spread betting, Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. It may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved."