For the first time, new cases of coronavirus infection within China were fewer than beyond its borders - 27.2.2020

Today, futures for US stock indices are “in the red” for the 6th day successively

On Wednesday, quotes of US stocks mostly closed “in the red”, despite sluggish correction attempts. US President Donald Trump said that the risks of the coronavirus epidemic are quite low and the media overestimate them. Besides that, indicators of the American real estate market ended up positive. However, the S&P 500 (-0,38%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0,46%), fell on Wednesday and only Nasdaq (+0,17%) managed to increase a bit. The indices lost 8-8.5% from their recent historical highs. On Wednesday, trading volume on US exchanges decreased by 3.8% compared with Tuesday’s numbers and amounted to 11.86 billion shares. This is 44% more than the average for 20 days. This morning U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the infection of a California resident who hadn’t been to countries exposed to coronavirus. This triggered a decline in futures for US stock indexes. Important economic data will be published in the US today: Durable Goods Orders for January and 4th quarter GDP in 2nd reading, as well as home sales on the secondary market. Reports of new cases of coronavirus in the United States (California) contributed to a resumption of the ICE US dollar index decline.

European stock indexes today resumed their fall after a slight correction

European stocks yesterday were being traded without a single trend. The sectors of utilities and automobile production turned out to be the top gainers. This was due to good reporting by the Spanish electricity distribution company Iberdrola SA and the French automaker Peugeot SA. Today, the drop of European stock indices recommenced. This was facilitated by the further spread of coronavirus, as well as forecasts of a decline in profit of Standard Chartered beer producer Anheuser-Busch InBev. Both of them work intensively in epidemic-affected countries in Southeast Asia. We do not expect the Eurozone to publish any significant macroeconomic data today. The EUR/USD rate today has risen markedly due to the weakening dollar. Investors expect the Fed to fall by 0.25% at the April 29 meeting and lower the ECB rate by 0.1% at the July 16 meeting.

Nikkei continues to go down today after yesterday’s insignificant correction

Asian indices today are being traded in different directions: some of them have grown, and some have decreased. Hang SengIndex went up at 0.3%. Stock indices of the Shanghai Exchange also rose. Investors believe that the Chinese authorities will stimulate the economy affected by the coronavirus epidemic. Besides, the influx of new patients in China obviously slowed down. The number of people who recovered exceeds the number of cases for 10 consecutive days. The Japanese Nikkei index resumed its decline, but shares in Kyorin Holdings pharmaceutical company rose by 10% owing to reports that their unit has developed a new test for coronavirus Covid-19.

Brent today keeps falling for the 5th day in a row

Brent зfutures for 5 days lost 10.6% and WTI - 10.4%. Almost all well-known agencies and banks lower their forecasts for an increase in global oil demand this year because of the coronavirus epidemic. For example, Facts Global Energy agency now believes that global oil demand will increase by only 60 thousand barrels per day, or the growth will be even zero. USA official oil reserves did actually increase for the 5th week consecutively. This was reported by U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Now market participants are waiting for the outcome of the OPEC + meeting, which is held on March 5-6. Previously, OPEC + was going to reduce production by 600 thousand barrels per day, which could support oil prices.