S&P 500 Futures extend Tuesday’s losses to 3,600 amid coronavirus fears
- S&P 500 Futures extend pullback from one-week high, marks two-day losing streak.
- Coronavirus firm up in Tokyo while policymakers from the West jostle from the pandemic.
- BOJ announces policy measures, US stimulus deadlock extends.
S&P 500 Futures drop to 3,600, down 0.20% intraday, during early Wednesday. The risk barometer declines for the second day in a row as the coronavirus (COVID-19) firms up outside the Northern hemisphere. Additionally, challenges to the US stimulus offer an extra burden on the trading sentiment.
A sustained increase in Tokyo’s covid cases in the last one week pushes the Japanese policymakers towards the highest alert level. Earlier in Asia, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsunobu marked fears of the nationwide surge in infections. Policymakers in the US and Europe also struggle with the virus even as the latest numbers from the bloc have been easing.
It should be noted that the chatters over the US COVID-19 stimulus deadlock return to the table as traders are most convinced of the Democratic leadership in America. Recently, House Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Democrats for stopping the aid package.
The economic calendar also portrayed downbeat conditions as Retail Sales in the US disappointed in October, up 0.3% MoM versus 0.5% forecast, while Australia’s Wage Price Index for the third quarter (Q3) marked the slowest increase on record with 0.1% QoQ figures.
To battle the moves, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda recently signaled measures for the regional banks that stay out of the monetary policy’s reach. Also, the RBA Governor Philip Lowe praised the importance of bond-buying while combating the economic impacts of the deadly virus.
Looking forward, global traders may continue taking clues from the coronavirus updates and the vaccine news. Also likely to direct the sentiment could be the headlines suggesting any move in the US aid package as well as fresh activity restrictions from the US states and/or Europe.