WHO announces the effectiveness of a new drug against coronavirus

On Tuesday, the US dollar index rose markedly thanks to excellent retail sales data for May. They increased by 17.7% compared to April figures. Annual retail sales still fell by 6.1%. Yesterday, the Industrial Production economic indicator was also released, which proved to be positive. The US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell announced the full recovery of the US economy would occur when the coronavirus epidemic was taken under control. This morning, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the first effective Covid-19 drug called Dexamethasone (developed in Britain). The British pound today continued to strengthen for the second day in a row thanks to good May inflation data, which dropped to a 4-year low and amounted to 0.5% in annual terms. Tonight, data on the real estate market and construction will be published in the US, and inflation data – in Canada.

On Tuesday, the US stock market experienced growth of quotations. Industrials, Oil & Gas, and Healthcare turned out to be the leading sectors in the S&P 500. The main positive factors were the same ones mentioned in the “Forex news” section: good retail sales data and the development of a new medicine against coronavirus. The launch of the Fed’s corporate debt buy-back program was additional factor in the growth of stock indices. European stock indices are now up for the third day in a row thanks to the positive data on the recovery of the EU economy after the coronavirus pandemic. Rather positive indicators of ZEW investor and consumer sentiment came out in Germany, and the inflation in Britain decreased. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, new car registrations increased slightly in May. HSBC Bank stocks rose 1% after reporting that they will continue to cut costs and are about to lay off 35,000 of their employees after the coronavirus pandemic is over. Now HSBC staff is 235 thousand people. The income of the global banking sector has been severely hit by Covid-19. So, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the total profit of US banks in the 1st quarter decreased by 70%.

Today, oil is being traded narrowly after a 3-day growth. Since last Friday, quotes have risen by 5-6% amidst an increase in world demand forecast from the International Energy Agency (IEA) for 2020 to 91.7 million barrels per day. The increase in oil prices has now stalled, pending the publication of the official US oil reserves change for the week at 18-30 CET. According to the independent American Petroleum Institute, reserves grew by 3.9 million barrels. This is a negative factor for oil prices, which has so far been offset by a positive one: Iraq has reduced oil export by 8% or 300 thousand barrels per day since early June.