Wall Street stocks finished mixed overnight, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones retreating 0,56% and 1.38%, respectively, while Nasdaq added 0.5% to a record 10,547.75. The tech-heavy index continues to outperform the broader market as tech stocks are more resilient to the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the official data showed that 1.3 million workers filed for unemployment claims last week, down from 1.4 million the prior week.
Today in Asia, equities were on the defensive as investors continue to take profit amid further deterioration in developments surrounding the pandemic as well as rising US-China tensions. According to the latest reports, China vowed to take countermeasures over US sanctions on the Xinjiang issue. Elsewhere, Japan said that the Tokyo situation doesn’t call for a state of emergency declaration. China’s Shanghai Composite dipped nearly 2% on Friday while Japan’s Nikkei 225 clipped 0.2% and the Hang Seng Index fell 1.1% as Hong Kong reported the second-highest daily local coronavirus case tally.
Meanwhile, European markets opened lower but managed to reenter the positive territory after three days of losses. Despite the selling pressure surrounding global stocks has eased, equities remain vulnerable to fresh losses as there are too many risk factors across the globe now including growing doubts in the economic recovery from the pandemic crisis.
Elsewhere, the greenback is mixed on Friday, with EURUSD recouping early losses during the European hours. The pair dipped to four-day lows around 1.1250 region earlier in the day but bounced and turned flat in recent trading, targeting the 1.13 handle again. Despite a local correction, the upside potential in the common currency remains limited amid the ongoing speculation about the EU summit. Meanwhile, the European Council President Charles Michel is expected to lower the size of the 2021-27 European Union budget. On the weekly timeframes, the pair looks set to see the third bullish candlestick in a row.
