Economy could “sputter” as COVID-19 surges

The S&P 500 rose 2.3 percent in July, its sixth consecutive positive month.

However, Rosenberg Research president David Rosenberg warned on Friday that surging COVID-19 Delta variant cases paired with the culmination of fiscal stimulus pose risks to the stock market.

“We have to be prepared here for the economy to sputter in the next several months,” said Rosenberg.

Indeed, health experts and officials expect the surge in COVID-19 cases to worsen as long as large segments of the country remain unvaccinated.

“We will see this big, steep acceleration,” said Dr Peter Hotez, co-director for the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital.

The hit to the US economy may not be too great though if lockdowns do not return.

“I don’t think we’re going to see lockdowns,” said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country - not enough to crush the outbreak - but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter.”