European stocks are likely to open lower on Thursday amid worries that the world economy is heading into a deep, protracted recession.
To protect Americans from competition from foreign workers during the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday restricting certain categories of immigrants from entering the country for 60 days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that the coronavirus continues to be extremely dangerous and will remain for a long time.
“Make no mistake: We have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the daily briefing on coronavirus.
“Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics and some that were affected early in the pandemic are starting to see a resurgence in cases,” Tedros told Geneva journalists in a virtual briefing.
The number of global coronavirus cases has surpassed the 2.6 million mark, while the death toll increased to over 183,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. continues to be the worst affected, with 841,556 cases and 46,688 deaths, followed by Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the U.K.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reported 474 fatalities, the lowest daily rate since early April.
Italy posted the most new cases in four days, while the number of confirmed cases in Mexico soared past 10,000. Singapore reported more than 1,000 new cases for the third day, pushing total infections past 10,000.
Elsewhere, Spain’s parliament backed the prime minister’s request to extend a state of emergency to May 9.
Asian stocks edged higher and the dollar rose to a more than two-week high as oil prices continued to claw back their massive losses from the beginning of the week.
The White House will give final passage to a $484 billion package of new pandemic relief funds today.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he will sign the bill and then plans to begin discussions on additional legislation to provide fiscal relief for states and local governments, increase infrastructure spending, provide tax incentives for restaurants and entertainment businesses and cut payroll taxes.
Flash Purchasing Managers’ survey data from euro area and the U.K. are due later in the day, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.
Across the Atlantic, trading may be impacted by reaction to reports on weekly jobless claims and new home sales.
U.S. stocks rose for the first time in three days on Wednesday as oil markets stabilized, Senators passed another coronavirus relief package and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was looking forward to having most of the U.S. economy open later in the summer.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite spiked 2.8 percent and the S&P 500 surged 2.3 percent.
European markets closed higher on Wednesday as few countries began easing coronavirus restrictions to restart their economies and investors cheered strong earnings updates from the likes of Roche Holding and STMicroelectronics.
The pan European Stoxx 600 rallied 1.8 percent. The German DAX rose 1.6 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gained 1.3 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 2.3 percent.
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