Market Summary: The long and the short of it.
Asian markets opened up the day nervously and finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng scratched out a small gain of 0.15%, while the Japanese Nikkei finished lower by -0.55%. Chinese markets were closed yesterday.
European markets finished broadly higher on Tuesday with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 was up +1.07% while London’s FTSE 100 was up +0.93% and Germany’s DAX rose by +0.90%.
THE AMERICAS
The coronavirus dropped to page 3 in the U.S. as attention shifted to more domestic matters ie. Kobe Bryant, Apple’s Q1 results and the political circus in Washington. North and South American markets closed sharply higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa rebounded +1.74% while Mexico’s IPC went up +1.32% and the U.S.’s S&P 500 gained +1.01%.
The surge in equities left the safe-havens sought over the last several days with very little bid. US Treasuries finished weaker across the curve with the two- and 10-year yields rising to 1.46% and 1.65%, respectively, while gold and silver dropped to $1,568 and $17.44 an ounce, respectively.
Crude Oil (WTI) on the other hand bounced to $53.5 a barrel. The fear index (VIX) also fell, closing down to 16.3, down a little more than 10%. While Bitcoin closed at $9330 down -0.57%
COPPER PAINS
Of note in the market yesterday, Freeport-McMoRan’s shares (FCX) are on the cusp of a bear market as the world’s largest copper producer warned about plunging copper prices on concerns the coronavirus has severely impacted China’s economy. China is the largest buyer of the industrial metal in the world, and with large swaths of its industrial sector shut down because of the virus and holiday, demand has collapsed, sending prices lower for the past ten sessions, the longest losing streak since 1986.