Here is what you need to know on Wednesday, March 25:
The market mood remains upbeat as the US Senate reached a deal on a $2 trillion stimulus package after around-the-clock talks. Stocks remain bid after staging the strongest rally since 1933 on Tuesday. American politicians are getting their act together as the number of domestic cases topped 55,000 and the World Health Organization said the world's largest economy is set to be the next epicenter of the disease.
The agreement includes cheques to most Americans, aid to small businesses, unemployment insurance, tax deference, and more. The bill is set to turn into law by the end of the week. Some of the funding comes from the Federal Reserve's unlimited Quantitative Easing program announced on Monday.
While Asian stocks are on the rise, S&P futures are on the back foot, potentially pointing to a "sell-the-fact" reaction to the stimulus deal.
See When will the Corona market end? Or has it already?
President Donald Trump said he wants to see the lockdowns removed by Easter, in around three weeks' time, while state and local officials are adding restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Preliminary Purchasing Managers' Indexes from the US, the UK, and the eurozone plunged in services sector activity while manufacturing is holding up due to quirk in the calculation, counting delays as a positive factor.
Commodity currencies are the most significant beneficiaries on Wednesday, with AUD/USD recapturing 0.60 and NZD/USD also advancing despite a nationwide lockdown. USD/CAD has dropped below 1.44 as WTI Crude Oil closes on $25. Crude oil inventories are eyed.
Another winner is GBP/USD which is trading well over 1.18, which is extending its recovery as Brits get used to their lockdown. UK inflation figures for February will likely be ignored by markets as it predates the crisis.
EUR/USD is hovering around 1.08, relatively stable after Italy reported a rise in the number of deaths and Spain's number of mortalities continues rising quickly. Epidemiologists want to see the curve flattening. The final German IFO Business Climate for March is set to confirm a sharp drop in confidence.
India has joined the long list of countries imposing lockdowns, ordering around 1.3 billion people to stay at home.
Gold is battling $1,600 after breaking above the round number on Tuesday. The precious metal is benefiting from the Fed's figures.
US Durable Goods Orders for February are forecast to show falls, but the pre-crisis figures will likely be overlooked in favor of updated coronavirus figures from all over the world. Over 400,000 people have been infected and nearly 19,000 have died all over the world.
Cryptocurrencies have been consolidating their gains, trading above $6,500.
More Have stocks bottomed out? Not yet, wait for these three coronavirus-related developments
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EUR/USD treads water just above 1.0400 post-US data
Another sign of the good health of the US economy came in response to firm flash US Manufacturing and Services PMIs, which in turn reinforced further the already strong performance of the US Dollar, relegating EUR/USD to the 1.0400 neighbourhood on Friday.
GBP/USD remains depressed near 1.2520 on stronger Dollar
Poor results from the UK docket kept the British pound on the back foot on Thursday, hovering around the low-1.2500s in a context of generalized weakness in the risk-linked galaxy vs. another outstanding day in the Greenback.
Gold keeps the bid bias unchanged near $2,700
Persistent safe haven demand continues to prop up the march north in Gold prices so far on Friday, hitting new two-week tops past the key $2,700 mark per troy ounce despite extra strength in the Greenback and mixed US yields.
Geopolitics back on the radar
Rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine caused renewed unease in the markets this week. Putin signed an amendment to Russian nuclear doctrine, which allows Russia to use nuclear weapons for retaliating against strikes carried out with conventional weapons.
Eurozone PMI sounds the alarm about growth once more
The composite PMI dropped from 50 to 48.1, once more stressing growth concerns for the eurozone. Hard data has actually come in better than expected recently – so ahead of the December meeting, the ECB has to figure out whether this is the PMI crying wolf or whether it should take this signal seriously. We think it’s the latter.
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