With the phrase “bear market rally ” permanently ingrained in everyone one psyche, it’s getting more challenging by the hour to keep the glass half full, and the rose-tinted glasses-wearing scenario’s in play as two of the markets major pressure points are starting to surface.
The fear of a super spreader in India suggests Asia’s worst nightmare may become a reality. The COVID-19 infection curve is steepening in Asia’s second-most populous country where containment efforts might have been affected to late to save the day.
And then the global financial sector was dealt a nasty wallop after shares in HSBC, and Stan Chart plummeted when both banks announced the cancellation of dividends.
All the while stock markets are reacting negatively to what now seems to be a likely increase in the duration and breadth of coronavirus lockdowns in the US and elsewhere, which is pointing to a potentially deeper and longer-term hit to economic activity than…