South Korea reported a record daily high of new coronavirus cases
Wall Street stocks rebounded overnight despite the lingering uncertainty about the impact of the pandemic on the economic recovery. Market players cheered upbeat quarterly results from US companies, with IBM Corp. and HCA Healthcare both rallying after reporting higher-than-expected revenue and profit. As such, the S&P 500 gained 1.52% to recover much of the previous day’s loss. The Dow Jones rose 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.57%.
Asian equities were mixed Wednesday, with investors remaining cautious amid rising coronavirus infections in the region. Of note, South Korea reported a record daily high of new coronavirus cases. The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.52% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 0.13%. On the positive side, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.58% after the data showed that June exports jumped 48.5% over a year earlier, beating forecasts. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.73%
In Europe, stocks opened higher on Wednesday following a major comeback on Wall Street. The pan-European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.1% in early trade. In individual stocks, BASF gained 1% after the company said it had been chosen to develop high-performing lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles with Cellforce Group.
Meanwhile, the USD index extends the rally further north of the 93.00 mark, targeting new 3-month peaks near 93.20 as US 10-year yields rebounded above 1.20%. The spread of the Delta variant continues to pose a threat to the global growth prospects and thus gives extra support to the safe-haven greenback.
As such, EURUSD dipped to fresh April lows around 1.1750 earlier in the day before erasing losses in recent trading. Still, the euro lacks the recovery momentum to challenge the 1.1800 figure that represents the immediate resistance now.
