Investor optimism has taken a minor hit this week following a jobs report last Friday that showed a marked drop in the pace of U.S. hiring, along with signs that the Delta variant is negatively impacting the pace of recovery in North America and around the globe.
Following Monday’s holiday, North American markets took a step back on Tuesday as investors surveyed the surging U.S.
infection rate. The Dow fell 269 points, the S&P and TSX were off 15 apiece, while the Nasdaq was slightly up. Also on Tuesday, Morgan Stanley lowered its rating on U.S. equities to underweight, citing risks related to economic growth and possible volatility.
All three major U.S. markets were in the red Wednesday as Covid cases continue to climb, especially in the southern U.S. states, where vaccination rates remain low. The TSX also lost ground as commodities were mixed.
As expected, the BoC on Wednesday kept its key interest rate steady at 0.25%, warning of Covid’s persistent drag on the recovery. Meanwhile in Europe, the ECB signaled that the bank will keep the easy money flowing for some time amid a resurgence in Covid-19 cases globally and signs of economic slowdown in China and the U.S. Thursday began with a bit of upbeat U.S. jobs data, as initial unemployment claims continued to trend lower, falling to 310,000 for the prior week. However, markets failed to hold early gains, steadily drifting lower as the trading day progressed. By Thursday’s close, all four major N.A. markets had registered slight losses.
N.A. Markets in the Red
For the four trading days covered in this report, the Dow lost 490 points to close at 34,879, the S&P 500 dropped 41 points to settle at 4,494, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq declined 115 points to close at 15,248. In Canada, the TSX surrendered 116 points to end at 20,705.
source https://richarddri.ca/investor-sentiment-wanes-as-delta-variant-impacts-global-economy/
Dri Financial Group 