Despite renewed hostilities between the U.S. and China, and a host of discouraging economic data, N.A. markets remain focused on the positives as more countries begin to slowly reopen their economies. On Monday, N.A. stocks were in the red for much of the session but pared losses before the closing bell, buoyed by a rally in the oil market.
Canadian and U.S. indexes climbed again on Tuesday as health care stocks rallied and oil extended its recent recovery, with U.S. crude futures for June gaining 20%. The positive sentiment for oil is being led by increased demand, as countries restart their economies, and falling production. Although U.S. markets finished in the green, stocks declined sharply late in the afternoon after Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida offered his downbeat take on the likelihood of a V-shaped recovery.
On Wednesday, the Dow and S&P surrendered ground as oil prices declined and U.S. private payrolls fell by a record 20.2 million workers in April, according to the ADP National Employment Report. Although the Dow was down more than 200 points, the TSX was up slightly, while the Nasdaq continued its climb as resilient tech stocks led Wall Street. U.S. stocks rose Thursday as initial jobless claims continued to decline. For the week ended May 2, those applying for unemployment benefits came in at 3 million, a far cry from the 6 million registered in the last week in March. By Thursday’s close, the Nasdaq was in positive territory for the first time in two months, erasing 2020’s losses.
Finally, turning to Europe, the data’s been especially bleak. A release of purchasing managers indexes Monday showed that coronavirus lockdowns sent manufacturing activity in April to all-time lows for Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Meanwhile retail sales in the eurozone also suffered their largest decline on record in March. In light of recent data, the European Commission is forecasting “a recession of historic proportions,” with the eurozone economy projected to contract more
than 7% in 2020.
source https://richarddri.ca/n-a-markets-clinging-to-positive-sentiment-despite-downbeat-data/
Dri Financial Group 