Yesterday, the main stock indexes were trading mixed on the US stock exchange. Today, the indexes are still trading sideways without any particular direction. Thus, Standard & Poor's 500 Index once again approached its record high but failed to break through this level, since the activity of investors in the market was extremely low. It seems that market participants prefer not to rush until the new stimulus package in the United States is finally adopted.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31%, or 86.11 points, when closing the trade on Monday, having settled at the level of 27,844.91.
The S&P 500, on the contrary, showed an increase of 0.27%, or 9.14 points. It was last seen at the level of 3,381.99 points. During the day, the stock index managed to reach the high of 3,386.15 points and even broke above this mark. Yet, when closing the session, the S&P 500 moved below it. The index has been testing this important level for the second week in a row. However, it turned out to be a strong level of resistance.
Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1%, or 110.42 points, moving closer to the 11,129.73 mark, thus hitting a new high.
US energy stocks and the shares of financial companies were performing quite well. This uptrend supported the US stock market, as it was a signal of the economic recovery in the country. Recently, however, the pace of growth has slowed down due to the stalemate in the negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over the new stimulus package. Besides, the escalation of the conflict between Washington and Beijing put additional pressure on the markets, especially when the meeting on trade agreement has been delayed.
The news about restrictions against China's telecommunication companies, including Huawei Technologies Co. and its key components, raised more worries among investors. In addition, the US authorities have published a list of 38 companies that are now prohibited from exporting technology from the US without obtaining a special license.
The US leader also said that he was not going to stop here and that his plans included further pressure on China. He suggested adding another Chinese giant, Alibaba, on the sanctions list.
If the situation deteriorates, then in the near future the US stock exchange will have a hard time.
This morning, the Asian stock market also showed mixed dynamics. Asian stocks are still under pressure from the tensions between the United States and China and the uncertainty around the next stimulus package in the US.
Today, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index was down 0.12%.
Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.51%. In contrast, the Hang Seng Index went down 0.1%.
South Korea's Kospi Index dropped significantly by 2.3%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.74%.
The Asian stock market indicators were affected by the new restrictive measures imposed on the Chinese company Huawei. Moreover, the American leader said that he planned to continue his restrictive policy.
Last Friday, Donald Trump signed an executive order which invalidates the purchase of TikTok app by the Chinese company ByteDance. At the moment, a large company Oracle is negotiating to purchase the assets of the controversial application. Microsoft Corporation also announced its plans to acquire TikTok.
In the meantime, the ongoing issue of adopting the next relief package is going to be resolved soon. Reportedly, US lawmakers are called back from summer holidays in order to put an end to this long-lasting story. This sparked enthusiasm in the markets which were already losing hope.
On the other hand, the European stocks are doing great today. In the early trade, the indexes were fluctuating and trying to go into negative territory. Later in the day, the stocks stabilized and entered the green zone. All bad the news that scares Asia and America so much has the opposite effect in Europe.
European investors continue to closely monitor the situation with the spread of coronavirus. According to the latest data, the number of infected people has already surpassed 21.881 million cases, which is 209 thousand more compared to yesterday's reports. Of course, this raises some concerns among market participants.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index, the general index of large enterprises in the region, rose by 0.1% in the morning trade and moved to 369.64 points.
The UK FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.13%. Germany's DAX jumped 0.21%. The French CAC 40 index increased by 0.18%. Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.28%. And the best performer today was the Spanish IBEX 35 which jumped 0.62%.
