Morning Report – Friday 9th October

Main Headlines

The Presidential Debate commission took the decision to move the second debate to a video debate to “protect the health and safety of all involved”. Donald Trump refused to take part, while Joe Biden’s campaign is happy with the decision.

Coronavirus cases continue to rise in Europe. Germany reported 4,000 new cases yesterday, its largest since April, which a senior public health official said could rise to 10,000 new cases a day. Hospitality venues in northern England are bracing for more restrictions as cases increase.

Nancy Pelosi delivered a blow to Donald Trump by ruling out individual stimulus packages, such as an airline relief package unless there is a broader fiscal stimulus bill. There remains key differences between Steve Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi and it seems that this saga will continue for a while yet. New initial jobless claims fell slightly to 840,000 only slightly higher than the forecast of 820,000.

GBP

Sterling gained slightly against the dollar in early morning trading today. Brexit talks will continue today, but the focus will be on a host of economic data released today, including monthly GDP figures. Trade balance figures released this morning disappointed to the downside at – £9.01 billion

EUR

The euro continues to gain against the dollar, following an upward trend since yesterday afternoon. ECB policy makers spoke out yesterday that a further appreciation in the euro would be “risk to both growth and inflation” and are worried that eurozone inflation will remain in negative territory until the end of the year.

USD

The dollar fell against most major currencies yesterday, as Nancy Pelosi pushed for an expansive fiscal stimulus package, however the dollar index is up in early morning trading today. US equities also climbed this morning and S&P futures are up 0.5%.

Main Economic Data/Central Banks/Government (All times BST)
7:00 a.m.: U.K. Aug. GDP, Trade Balance, Industrial, Manufacturing Production
7:45 a.m.: France Aug. Industrial, Manufacturing Production
9:00 a.m.: Italy Aug. Industrial Production
4:15 p.m.: BOE’s Haldane speaks
5:00 p.m.: USDA WASDE Report
6:00 p.m.: Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count