Investors express concerns over the recent surge in coronavirus cases
Wall Street stocks surged on Friday as the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was steady at 1.65%, with investors looking past signs of higher inflation in the U.S. The S&P 500 rose 0.77%, the Dow gained 0.89%, and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 0.51%.
Asian markets were broadly lower on Monday as investors expressed concerns over the recent surge in coronavirus cases. Of note, China’s authorities warned that the effectiveness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines was low while Japan struggles to get infections under control. The Nikkei 225 shed 0.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.86%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.30% while the Shanghai Composite index in China sank 1.09%. South Korea’s Kospi bucked the trend to climb 0.12% as shares in SK Innovation Co. rallied nearly 12% after it reached a settlement in a trade dispute with LG Energy Solution.
In Europe, equities edged lower as well, easing from all-time highs on Monday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.1% in early trading. In Germany, the BDI slashed the economic growth forecasts for this year to 3% from 3.5%, citing the ongoing lockdown measures in the country.
Meanwhile, the dollar looks mixed, struggling for direction at the start of a new trading week. EURUSD failed to break above the 1.1900 figure once again, staying under some selling pressure. Later in the week, the pair could see deeper losses if the US inflation data surprises to the upside. In this scenario, the euro could threaten the 20-DMA again.
In other markets, after the failure to overcome the $1,760 barrier last week, gold prices corrected lower and were last seen threatening the 20-DMA. The downside potential remains mixed as long as the yellow metal stays above this moving average, today at $1,730.
