US Stock Futures Fall as Coronavirus Crisis Deepens

Equities

Major US stock index futures kicked off the quarter with a drop as the Coronavirus continued to spread in the United States. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that the US should prepare for a very, very painful two weeks. The total cases in the United States are close to 200,000, while deaths crossed 4000. Stock benchmarks finished their first quarter on sharp drop where the Dow Jones futures lost 23%, the S&P500 futures fell 20%, and Nasdaq futures declined 14.2%. During the Asian session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped to 20960, the S&P500 futures tumbled to 2476, and Nasdaq futures drifted lower to 7526.

USD

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, inched higher to 99.46 during the Asian session to recover yesterday's losses. The soft risk sentiment is supporting the flow to dollar safety. Market participants are looking forward to the ADP Nonfarm Employment Change and the Manufacturing PMI to assess the impact of the Coronavirus on the economic activity. Currently, the dollar is stronger across the board where the EURUSD fell to $1.0958, the GBPUSD dropped to $1.2329, and the AUDUSD declined to $0.6062.

Metals

Gold prices managed to recover partially from the sharp losses incurred yesterday. The spot price of a gold ounce rose to $1600 after trading at a low of $1573. Meanwhile, the price of a silver ounce remained lower at $13.88, and palladium futures gapped lower to $2221.

Oil

Oil prices resumed declines, erasing gains earned following Putin-Trump phone call. Both presidents agreed that the current oil prices are disastrous and urged a talk between their top energy officials. The last OPEC+ production cut agreement ended yesterday, and currently, oil producers can go on their own. On the other hand, the American Petroleum Institute published the weekly oil stock showing a buildup of 10.485 million barrels last week, raising oversupply concerns. The West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell to $20, and Brent futures declined to $25.05.

Major Economic Events

 Disclaimer 

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