Wednesday 1 July 2020

Markets rise as economic data surpass expectations

Markets rose on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.1 percent and the Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 percent.

Better-than-expected economic data helped boost markets on Tuesday.

In the US, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 98.1 in June from 85.9 in May.

In China, the official manufacturing PMI rose to 50.9 in June from 50.6 in May.

“We’ve seen a good sweep of data, macro data in particular, over the past few weeks coming out of the US, the euro zone and China and I think this Chinese data just reiterates the fact that we’re seeing a faster than expected improvement from a macro perspective,” said Cedric Chehab, head of country risk and global strategy at Fitch Solutions.

Markets rose even as Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US epidemiologist, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the daily COVID-19 case-load could reach 100,000 from the current 40,000 unless Americans wear masks and recommit to social distancing.

Chehab warned that the continuing rise in infections and further lockdowns could lead to “a much larger correction in equity markets”.

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