By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- Central bankers around the world take fright at the latest rise in Covid-19 cases. The U.S. reported its highest case numbers in two months at the weekend. China's regulators smite Didi and other big Internet companies again, and oil falls after CFTC data show the market getting seriously unbalanced. Here's what you need to know in financial markets on Monday, July 12th.
1, Covid-19 surge haunts central banks
The world’s central banks are sounding a more cautious tone about the path of the economic recovery, as the latest wave of Covid-19 threatens to force another round of restrictive measures.
Richmond Federal Reserve President Tom Barkin warned in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. labor market isn’t yet strong enough to warrant a reduction in bond purchases, adding to concerns voiced by San Francisco’s Mary Daly last week.
On Sunday, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told Bloomberg that its flagship bond-buying program is likely to be extended beyond March next year, albeit under a different name so as to appease German-led hawks who want a quick end to it.
Overnight, the central banks of Indonesia and Thailand, two countries seeing a steep rise in coronavirus cases, warned that they will likely miss their growth forecasts for this year.
2. Chinese regulators smite Didi, others
Chinese regulators announced at the weekend they will subject all companies with over 1 million users to a review of their data policies before approving their U.S. listings, effectively granting themselves a veto over all future Chinese tech listings in the U.S.
The move is the latest to deepen the rift between the Chinese and U.S. capital markets, in what appears to be a concerted and multi-faceted crackdown on the economic power of China’s biggest technology companies.
The Cyberspace Administration of China had said on Friday that it had ordered 25 more apps operated by Didi Global (NYSE:DIDI) to be withdrawn from local app stores. Antitrust regulators meanwhile confirmed that they would block a planned merger of two units of Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY), which would have cemented the company’s dominance of the local gaming market. They're also pressing Tencent's music arm to relinquish monopoly rights over certain song catalogues.
3. Stocks set to fall at open. Disney in focus after Black Widow debut
U.S. stock markets are set to open mixed later, as fears about the spread of Covid-19 weigh on sentiment toward the ‘reopening’ plays that dominated the second quarter.
The U.S. recorded its highest daily total of new cases since May on Saturday, as the highly-transmissible Delta variant continues to make inroads, in particular across those states with the lowest vaccination rates. These are mainly in the Midwest and South of the country.
By 6:25 AM ET, Dow Jones futures were down 183 points, or 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures were down 0.3%. NASDAQ Futures outperformed with a 0.1% rise as investors rotated out of value stocks into growth stocks.
Stocks likely to be in focus later include Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), after its Black Widow movie grossed $218 million on its debut weekend. Some $60 million of that was generated by distribution through the Disney+ streaming channel. Also in focus will be Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), whose representatives will meet with U.S. regulators later to discuss their plans to distribute 'booster shots' of their Covid-19 vaccine.
4. Branson in space
Also in focus later will be Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE), which passed a key milestone on the road toward commercial space tourism at the weekend.
The company’s first full-crew test flight – inevitably carrying its billionaire founder Richard Branson – took place without any significant hiccups on Sunday. Two more test flights are due before the planned launch of commercial services next year.
Virgin Galactic stock, which sold off sharply earlier this year after Branson and chairman Chamath Palihapitiya sold down their positions, rose more than 10% in premarket trading.
5. Oil slides on fears over long positioning
Crude oil prices fell amid concerns about economic growth, which is weakening at a time when some market indicators are starting to look worryingly imbalanced.
The ratio of long to short positions on crude futures reported by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rose to 23 in the week through June 15. That’s the highest in three years and up from a ratio of six at the start of the year.
By 6:25 AM, U.S. crude futures were down 1.6% at $73.36 a barrel, while Brent futures were down 1.6% at $74.34 a barrel.
The continued stalemate in talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal appeared to have little impact either way.