Yahoo Finanza European, US Stock Indexes Marginally Higher after Asia-Pacific Markets Stumble
European stocks and U.S. stock index futures are higher on Friday as global investors continue to assess the rising number of coronavirus cases and its potential economic impact on the current fragile recovery. These moves bucked the dominant trend in the Asia-Pacific region, which were lower on Friday.
The major European stock indexes opened lower on Friday after President-elect Joe Biden was projected to win the battleground state of Arizona, cementing his path to the White House. However, prices rebounded to turn higher for the session when the U.S. stock index futures failed to follow-through to the downside following a losing session on Thursday.
In the cash market in Europe, the U.K.’s FTSE is trading 6328.52, down 10.42 or -0.16%. Germany’s DAX is at 13108.41, up 55.46 or +0.42% and France’s CAC is at 5386.61, up 24.04 or +0.45%.
Stateside, U.S. stock futures were higher with the December E-mini S&P 500 Index trading up 30.5. The Dow E-mini is up 260 points and the NASDAQ-100 E-mini is up 94.75.
Wall Street Ends Sharply Lower as Pandemic Fears Resurge
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday as U.S. coronavirus infections surged and investors weighed the timeline for the mass rollout of an effective vaccine.
New York became the latest state to introduce stricter social distancing rules on Wednesday, as new infections in the country surged above 100,000 for an eighth consecutive day. Total cases in Texas and California climbed over 1 million this week.
The blue-chip Dow was pulled down by industrial and financial companies sensitive to economic growth, with Boeing Company and Goldman Sachs each down more than 2%.
Airlines and cruise operators, among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, also fell.
The S&P 500 energy index and financials both fell sharply.
Moderna Inc rallied after the drugmaker said it had enough data for a first interim analysis of the late-stage trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. It did not say when it plans to release the data.
Walt Disney Co and network gear maker Cisco Systems Inc each slipped ahead of their quarterly results due after the close.
Among the biggest boosts to the NASDAQ Composite was a surge in the U.S.-listed shares of Chinese e-commerce company Pinduoduo Inc after it reported strong quarterly revenue.
US Economic News
New data showed U.S. jobless claims fell to a seven-month low last week, but the pace of job recovery slowed as fiscal stimulus waned and further improvement could be limited by a raging pandemic.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
