Stocks Trim Losses Amid Stimulus Talks, Bank Rally: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- Stocks pared losses as traders awaited news on negotiations over a fresh round of stimulus amid a resurgence in coronavirus cases around the globe. The dollar climbed.

The S&P 500 came off session lows as banks rebounded from a two-day selloff and energy shares rallied. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats that a Covid-19 relief package won’t wait until January as she was scheduled to have another call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, while President Donald Trump said he’d go over $1.8 trillion in stimulus. Equities slumped earlier in the day as Europe’s biggest cities clamped down to curb the virus, adding to concern that further restrictions could cause more damage to the global economy.

Investors also assessed data showing an unexpected surge in jobless claims to the highest since August -- a troubling sign for a labor market whose recovery from the pandemic was already slowing. Covid-19’s recent march across the Midwest has caught up with the region’s most populous states: Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. Governments around the world are grappling with how to devise targeted strategies that slow the spread of the virus, without resorting to the kind of broad national lockdowns that have decimated the economy.

“What we see the market doing today is reflecting what we think is still a lot of uncertainty,” said David Spika, president of GuideStone Capital Management. “So we do think it’s appropriate for the market to be consolidating some here.”

Read: Morgan Stanley CFO Says ‘Blue Wave’ Already Priced Into Markets

Here are some key events coming up:

• European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde leads off the virtual annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Through Oct. 18.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 decreased 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 2.1%.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 1.1%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.4%.
• The euro dipped 0.4% to $1.1704.
• The British pound fell 0.9% to $1.2897.
• The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 105.42 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose less than one basis point to 0.73%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to -0.61%.
• Britain’s 10-year yield sank four basis points to 0.18%.

Commodities

• The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.6%.
• West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 0.1% to $41.01 a barrel.
• Gold strengthened 0.3% to $1,907.49 an ounce.

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