European futures are trading sharply lower even though fiscal policies have opened war coffins in order to soften the blow of the COVID-19 pandemic. In simple terms, the turbulent time continues for equity markets around the globe. Over the past couple of days, the S&P500 futures index has hit the limit up 3 times and limit down 3 times. The magnitude and the momentum of the current price action have not been witnessed before.
Yesterday, we talked about cohesive monetary policy as a possible solution for the current turmoil. Policymakers are on it now, they understand that if they want to stem the current crisis, they have to put all of their differences aside, and do whatever it takes to restore confidence. The US, the UK, and the EU announced a series of ambitious measures to ward off a possible deep recession.
French and Spanish governments announced apackage of 45 billion Euros and 200 billion Euros respectively. There are alsostrong possibilities of nationalizing some of the companies in France who willhave difficulty surviving this crisis. Over in the UK, the Chancellor announced330 billion pounds of government-backed loans and guarantees to help businesses.An additional 20 billion pound of measures were also declared, that includessuspending business rates and special grants of 25K pounds for any smallbusiness. Moreover, the Chancellor also broadcasted a three-month mortgageholiday and more measures on income and employment are to follow soon. The USfollowed and their measures could add up to one trillion dollars, along with300 billion dollars in deferred tax payments. These measures are mammoth,and the Trump administration needs to make sure that none of this money isutilized in stock buybacks, paying dividends or heavy bonuses.
We are clearly in uncharted territory andit is applaudable that policymakers around the globe have got their headstogether because, without the fiscal bazooka, we would be in a dire situation.The bazooka that was announced by the US yesterday certainly created a “fear ofmissing out” among equity investors and this pushed the US indices towardstheir high of the day during the closing hours.
However, today, some investors arequestioning if the current fiscal measures are strong enough to save us fromrecession. This is because the widespread of the virus and wholescale economicshutdown, during the last few weeks, and is something which no one has faced,and it is immensely difficult to model them in an economic model as an analyst.
Nonetheless, just to put some numbers in perspective, in terms of market reaction, the S&P500 index closed higher with a gain of 6%, the Nasdaq with 6.46% and the Dow Jones surged 5.20% or 1048 points. Apart from Nasdaq, the rest of the two indices are down over 20% YTD while the Nasdaq has lost 14.42% of its value.
Back in Europe, the politicians haveannounced that they are closing their borders so that they can keep a lid onthe spread of the virus. Although the initiative is necessary, it will disruptthe food supply chain immensely and consumers are likely to face a shortage ofdaily essentials.
In terms of equity markets, investors arefretful that banning short selling may create more chaos, but it is the rightstrategy adopted by regulators. The Italian government extended the ban onshort-selling for another 90 days, and I believe other governments should adoptthis as well, in order to bring the volatility of equity markets under control.
Gold
In the commodity space, the gold price is back above the 1500 mark. This confirms the safe-haven is holding its support zone of 1,444 and it is improving its safe-haven credential. The price retraced from its high of 1546, yesterday’s high, due to lack of momentum. But the fact that loose monetary policy is here to stay for the foreseeable future among major central banks, gold holds an attractive position.
Oil
As for the black gold, it is haunted fromall angles. The wrecked demand, excess supply and the ongoing supply warbetween Saudi Arabia and Russia is adding further trouble for traders. Theprice is in a strong downward trend and it is likely that we may see the pricebreaking the level of 26.05 formed back in February 2016 during the supplyglut. As long as the supply situation and coronavirus outbreak doesn’t comeunder control, investors do not see any point in getting involved in this trade,despite a deep discount.