The number of patients with coronavirus increased not only in China, but also in Iran, South Korea and Italy - 24.2.2020

US stock indices in over-the-counter trading plummeted today

On Friday, quotes of US stocksstocks fell for the second day in a row. This was facilitated by the growing number of patients with coronavirus and weak macroeconomic data. Markit US Manufacturing PMI in February turned out to be worse than expected and fell to a minimum since October 2013. The S&P 500 (-1.1%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.78%) went down, the Nasdaq (1.8%) showed a decrease as well. Trading volume on US exchanges was 8% more than the 20-day average. On Monday morning, the situation in the global stock market worsened even more. The death toll from coronavirus reached 8 people in Iran, 7 people in South Korea and 3 people in Italy. In China, over the weekend, the number of patients increased by 4 thousand to 79.4 thousand. Futures for US stock indices fell this morning by an average of 2%. Today, no significant macroeconomic data are expected to be released in the United States. The ICE dollar index declined on Friday, but then rose on Monday. Investors buy US government bonds. Yield on 10-year securities fell to a minimum since July 2016 and reached 1.421%

European stock indices drop for the third day in a row

European stocks went down in value on Friday. More than others, the automotive sector fell by almost 2%. Investors fear a shortage of Chinese components, as they are produced in the Hubei province, which is dealing with the epidemic of coronavirus. Now the German DAX stock index is down 3.3%. The number of patients with coronavirus in Italy has reached 157 people. Italy takes the 3rd place in the world after China (79.4 thousand people) and South Korea (763 people). The biggest losers in Europe today are stocks of airlines, travel companies and luxury goods manufacturers. For example, quotations of the German airline Lufthansa have decreased by 7%. Some IFO Business Climate business indicators will be published in Germany today. The EUR / USD rate suspended the fall and is traded above the psychological level of 1.08.

Nikkei is not trading today in celebration of Emperor's Day in Japan

Asian indices have descended today. The Chinese Shanghai Composite fell all in all 0.3%. Thanks to quarantine, the number of patients with coronavirus in China is not growing as much as before. Hang Seng Index dropped 1.8% today. The shares of the energy sector (-3.1%), IT (-3.1%), financial (-1.7%) and real estate companies (-1.4%) suffered the most. The Australian stock index S&P/ASX 200 collapsed by 2.2%. This is the maximum decline for a day since last August. Australian energy companies (-4%) became top losers. In particular, shares of Woodside Petroleum got cheaper by 6.4% amid falling global oil prices.

Brent gets cheaper for the 3rd day in a row

Quotations of Brent futures keep on falling on Monday approximately by 3%, as there are signs of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic outside of China. Investors fear that this will lead to the reduction of global demand. At the same time, there is a strong demand for gold, as investors consider it a protective asset. Gold quotes today rose by 4% and reached a 7-year high.