Markets mixed, Europe and US COVID-19 cases surge

Markets were mostly higher on Friday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.6 percent and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent.

Economic data on Friday were mixed.

The IHS Markit US PMI indices rose in October. The index for services climbed to 56.0 from 54.6 in the prior month while the index for the manufacturing sector edged up to 53.3 from 53.2.

However, the flash IHS Markit eurozone composite PMI fell to 49.4 from 50.4 in September.

“The euro zone is at increased risk of falling into a double-dip downturn as a second wave of virus infections led to a renewed fall in business activity,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

Indeed, Europe’s daily COVID-19 infections have more than doubled in the last 10 days, reaching a total of 7.8 million cases and about 247,000 deaths. France passed 1 million cases on Friday with a new record daily tally of more than 42,000.

The situation is little better in the US. 76,195 new cases were reported on Thursday, and the death toll could surpass 500,000 by February unless nearly all Americans wear face masks, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

“We are heading into a very substantial fall/winter surge,” said IHME director Chris Murray.