Biden quits the presidential race [Video]

Ipek Ozkardeskaya Swissquote Bank Ltd

Joe Biden threw in the towel and announced that he quits the presidential race this weekend. The early polls show that Harris is a favourite to become the new Democrat nominee, but that Donald Trump is still expected to win the November’s presidential election. The Trump trade could lose some steam but will probably not get reversed if Harris doesn't make a material difference in the polls quickly.

The latter expectation was reflected with a brief post-announcement selloff and a rebound in Bitcoin. The US dollar is slightly softer across the board. Stock futures in Europe and the US are in the green while the Treasuries show muted reaction with small gains at the beginning of a new week.

But the week started looking unappetizing in Asia. Equities in Australia and China fell despite a surprise rate cut announcement from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), while TSM kicked off the week with a 3% fall after last week erased more than 3.5% from the technology-heavy Nasdaq stocks in the US. The S&P500 fell nearly 2% over the week, while the Russell 2000 printed a 1.50% advance despite erasing more of the earlier gains on Friday.

Markets will focus on US GDP update, core PCE index and earnings from Tesla and Google this week.

Author

Ipek Ozkardeskaya

Swissquote Bank Ltd

Ipek Ozkardeskaya began her financial career in 2010 in the structured products desk of the Swiss Banque Cantonale Vaudoise. She worked in HSBC Private Bank in Geneva in relation to high and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

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