Very concerned about the acceleration of the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the United States, the markets fell again on Friday, leaving behind the optimism that the support measures of governments and central banks instilled.
Although the indices in Asia closed in green, following in the wake of the closing of Wall Street the day before, with the Tokyo stock market rising 3.88%, the markets in Europe started the session with losses.
By 09:15 GMT, Paris was down 2.75%, London 3.83% and Frankfurt 1.76%. The Milan and Madrid stock exchanges, in the countries most affected by the pandemic in Europe, fell 1.62% and 2.06% respectively.
“It is not a surprise in such an uncertain context with a number of infections in the United States now higher than in China,” said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets.
The United States accounted for more officially declared cases of coronaviruses on Thursday night than any other country in the world, ahead of China and Italy. The country also recorded a record increase in the number of requests for unemployment benefits.
The pandemic was also progressing in the rest of the planet, with more than half a million infected, and its consequences on the world economy were increasing.
European stock markets had managed to rebound three days in a row until Thursday, driven by initiatives by central banks and states to try to counter the ravages of COVID-19 in the economies.
In the United States, the Senate voted on a $ 2 trillion “historic” plan, which has yet to be approved this Friday by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives before being enacted by President Donald Trump.
The Federal Reserve chairman also promised Thursday that the institution would continue to lend money “aggressively” to fight the economic impact of the pandemic, in an unusual live interview. These statements instilled optimism in the markets.
Leaders of the world’s 20 most industrialized countries have pledged to inject more than $ 5 trillion into the economy to “counter the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic,” they said Thursday in a virtual emergency meeting chaired by Riyadh.
Germany also launched a bailout plan of about 1.1 trillion euros, a move “unprecedented … since World War II,” in the words of German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
There was also a sign of appeasement between Beijing and Washington on Friday, after a series of verbal attacks between the two powers in recent days around the pandemic.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday in a phone conversation with his US counterpart Donald Trump that the two countries, despite their rivalry, “must unite against the epidemic” of COVID-19, an official media reported.
“Now the markets responded positively to the exceptional plans deployed by the authorities in recent days, we think that the rise in the indices will take hold,” said Tangi Le Liboux, an expert at Aurel BGC.
Oil prices, which had fallen on Thursday, were rising on Friday at 0645 GMT. The price of the WTI crude barrel rose 1.81% to $ 23.01, and that of the North Sea Brent barrel increased 0.23% to $ 26.4.
The euro was worth $ 1,1041, almost the same as Thursday at 7:00 p.m. GMT.
Regarding the debt market, it was developing very little, after having closed the day before in a slight rise.
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