Trading floors in Russia declined on Friday amid news that US President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19. In such a situation, the greenback can rejoice with might and main, because the markets of developing countries, including Russia, are suffering significant losses. And here's a good example: the Moscow Exchange index fell 1.29% on Friday, the dollar-denominated RTS index plunged 2.25%. Moreover, Sberbank, Aeroflot, GDR Rusagro, Lenta, Pharmacies 36 and 6, and Rosneft also suffered significant losses.
Futures on the Dow Jones industrial index also went down by 0.48%. The same fate befell the S&P 500 broad market index, which sank 0.96%. The NASDAQ hi-tech index also fell 2.22% despite recent clear gains.
Europe stocks, on the other hand, showed multidirectional movements. Stock indexes in the UK, France, Holland, and Switzerland slightly went up, while German stocks, on the contrary, suffered a loss.
Meanwhile, positive news on Trump's improving health condition quickly reflected on the Asian stocks: the Japanese trade was in clear advantage. Nikkei 225 climbed 1.26%, KOSPI also rose 1.26%, and Hang Seng joined the trend with an increase of 1.31%. Trading in China was closed due to its celebration of a National Day.
To date, many of the world's major economies are measured by the Services PMI. The US is expected to publish the non-manufacturing employment index (ISM) and the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers index. Likewise, the EU should provide information on the trend in retail sales in its countries.
