European Markets Decline, US Futures Dip

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Principal Points

• Markets turn lower on Tuesday
• The US surpasses 500,000 Covid-19 deaths

European equities open the session on Tuesday pointing to the downside, following a day of losses for the benchmark indexes. Early Tuesday brings renewed selling momentum across Europe as market participants reassess the current environment. US futures indicate a lower open when US trading kicks off later today. The US stock market is poised to open lower by roughly 0.20% as investors anticipate progress over the stimulus package.

On Monday, the House Budget Committee approved a $1.92tn coronavirus relief package, the first step towards the passing of Joe Biden’s bill through the House. The proposal, expected to hit the House floor late in the week, includes $1,400 in direct payments to individuals with a combined price tag of $422.3bn, aid to state and local governments, worth $350bn and extended unemployment benefits of $400 per week, amounting to a total of $245.8bn. Additional spending in the bill will include $128bn for reopening of schools and $109bn for child tax credit expansion, among other expenses.

As the coronavirus stimulus package is underway, the US surpassed half a million deaths from the Covid-19 illness. President Joe Biden led a moment of silence on Monday and mourned the coronavirus victims. On Monday evening at a White House candle-lighting ceremony, President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Vide President Kamala Harris with her husband, Doug Emhoff, stood in silence in honor of the lives lost to the pandemic.

A Glimmer of Hope as Vaccination Rollout is Underway

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, 500,310 Americans have died from Covid-19 during the last year or so. During the ceremony, President Joe Biden called for unity and urged all Americans to “remain vigilant, to stay socially distant, to mask up” and to “get vaccinated when it’s your turn”.

“We have to fight this together, as one people, as the United States of America. that is the only way we are going to beat this virus,” the President added. “Let this not be a story of how far we fell, but of how far we climbed up.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to President Biden and the nation’s top infectious disease expert, called the pandemic a “devastating” event. “It’s stunning when you look at the numbers, almost unbelievable, but it’s true,” Dr. Fauci added.

There are, however, reasons to be optimistic. The daily numbers of confirmed cases and hospitalizations are in a decline, while the vaccination pace is improving. President Joe Biden is on track to meet his target of 100 million vaccines administered in the first 100 days of his Presidency.

According to data from the CDC, the total number of people vaccinated with at least one dose is a little over 44 million, or 13.3% of the population. Across the states, 75 million vaccine doses have been delivered, of which 64 million were administered. The US vaccination program is set to accelerate in the coming weeks.

The US added 55,195 new cases on Sunday, bringing the average rate for the past week to 66,393, down 44% from the average two weeks ago.