The World Health Organization warned that the death toll could double without more global collective action
Wall Street stocks finished higher on Friday, recovering some of their losses for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.3% higher, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite popped 2.26%. Despite some stabilization, there are no clear signs of strength in the markets as virus-related concerns persist. Also, the US-China tensions are rising again amid the ongoing conflict surrounding the tech sector.
Asian stock markets were mixed-to-positive on Monday. However, the advances were limited by lingering concerns over fresh virus spikes and the reimposition of containment measures that are threatening the already fragile economic recovery. Of note, as the coronavirus death toll topped one million, the World Health Organization warned that figure could double without more global collective action. Investors are also nervous ahead of the first US presidential debate this week, which could prove crucial in determining November’s election. As a result, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.32% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.03%, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.05% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.2%.
In Europe, equities opened higher as investor sentiment continued to improve at the start of the week on optimism that the recent selloff is overdone. As a key week of Brexit talks begins, traders hope that U.K. and European Union officials will be able to make progress. In individual stocks, HSBC Holdings jumped more than 8% after China’s Ping An Insurance, its biggest shareholder, raised its stake to 8% from 7.95% in a bet the lender will return to paying dividends. As such, HSBC shares recovered from their lowest since 1995 reached last week in the wake of a report on alleged money laundering activities at leading banks.
Meanwhile, the dollar came under some selling pressure as risk-on tone prevails on Monday. EURUSD came off two-month lows slightly but continues to threaten the 1.16 handle, with downside risks persisting both for the euro and for high-yielding currencies in general as risk demand looks fragile. GBPUSD climbed above 1.28 on Brexit hopes and could see volatile trading this week amid Brexit talks. USDJPY failed to break above the 20-DMA and slipped to 105.30 on Monday after five days of gains in a row.
