Global Markets Today: Rising COVID-19 Cases Weigh On Asia, Europe And US

The impact of rising COVID-19 cases can be seen in markets worldwide as investors book profits after massive rallying in the last two weeks. Major U.S. indices fell on Tuesday and continued the decline in early Wednesday's trade.

The Dow futures are down by 0.25%, and the S&P 500 futures are trading lower by 0.26% on the last check Wednesday. WTI crude futures are up 0.87% at $41.79, while gold futures are down by 0.24% at $1,880.50. Ten-Year treasury yield is down by 2.3 basis points to 0.849%.

Asia: Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.1% due to rising COVID-19 cases in Tokyo. The nation's trade balance improved significantly to a surplus of ¥872.9 billion in October, with imports shrinking 13.3% year-over-year. 

China's Shanghai Composite benchmark closed higher by 0.22% on Wednesday as investors cheered the government's pledge for additional support to the economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.48%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.51%, as financial stocks' gains pushed the index to a nine-month high. Unemployment rate data is scheduled to release late Wednesday.

India's Nifty is trading higher by 0.25%, and South Korea's KOSPI closed the day, gaining 0.26%.

Europe: Euro Stoxx 50 is trading lower by 0.07% at press time Wednesday with Consumer Price Index data scheduled to release today.

London's FTSE 100 index is down by 0.29% on the last check Wednesday, after the country's Producer Price Index Output for October fell 1.4% YoY, missing the consensus of a 0.7% decline. For October, the Consumer Price Index grew 0.7% YoY and remained flat MoM, exceeding the consensus on both counts. The number of car registrations in October fell 1.6% YoY and 57% MoM.

Germany's DAX is down by a marginal 0.02% after car registrations data for October fell 3.6% YoY but grew 3.4% MoM. Automobile and industrial shares are trading lower.

France's CAC 40 index is trading lower by 0.08% after car registrations for October were reported down 9.5% YoY. Spain's IBEX 35 index is flat at publication time.

Forex Trading: U.S. Dollar Index futures are down by 0.17% at 92.245. The dollar has weakened against the Euro by 0.19% to $1.1883, lost 0.34% against the Sterling Pound to 1.3285, and lost 0.20 against the Japanese Yen to ¥103.97.

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