Markets mixed, US COVID-19 sets records, Brexit deal “inevitable”

Markets were mixed on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent but the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.3 percent.

Earlier in Asia, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.1 percent but the Nikkei 225 rose 1.3 percent.

“I think we’re having a bit of a digestion day after hitting new highs,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist, on the US market decline.

Not helping market sentiment is the continuing rise in COVID-19 cases in the US, with the daily death toll passing 3,000 for the first time on Wednesday and hospitalisations for the disease hitting a new all-time high.

In Europe, stocks finished off session highs as Brexit talks between the UK and the European Commission showed no sign of progress, although Oliver Brennan, senior macro strategist at TS Lombard, opined that an agreement “is inevitable”.