Key Points:
Gilead releases more positive data on Remdesivir drug
US weekly jobless claims remain high at 840K from 820K expected
US equities stronger on fiscal stimulus hopes
US equities continued the rebound from Tuesdays fallout on new hopes of stimulus agreement but feedback from today’s talks and comments from Mitch McConnell shows that both parties are still a long way apart and the Democrats are unwilling to sanction a ‘skinny’ deal. FX trod water for most of the day with most currencies not far from yesterday’s levels and the DXY closing at the same level as we await the next push. However, the commodity currencies remained buoyant and CAD outperformed as WTI rallied over 3%. Weekly jobless claims came in higher at 840k vs 820k expected but made little impact with the key knee jerk volatility centered around fiscal stimulus comments. Trump continues to be erratic confirming that he will not take part in a virtual debate next week throwing into doubt whether it will happen or not but Biden has penciled in a Town Hall in Philadelphia in order to remain in the public eye. For the upcoming session we will see Chinese Caixin Service PMI data and the RBA’s Financial Stability Review however news out just now that Gilead is seeing an improvement in recovery in Covid testing has given stock futures a boost and likely to dictate price action ahead. In Europe we get some a data dump from the UK before Canadian employment data to close out the week.