Markets fall as fiscal stimulus hope fades and COVID-19 cases surge

Markets fell on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 dipped 0.7 percent and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.6 percent.

Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, said that the likelihood of a US fiscal stimulus soon is “fading”.

Meanwhile, on corporate earnings reports, Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, said that it is “so far so good”.

However, Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network, said that the market’s optimism might make it vulnerable to bad news as “job growth has slowed substantially even as layoffs remain very high”.

In Europe, COVID-19 is clearly the primary concern as new daily cases hit about 100,000 and countries renew curfews and lockdowns.

“We are already in a phase of exponential growth, the daily numbers show that,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.