Equity and currency volatility shot higher on Wednesday and the cost of sourcing dollars rose, reflecting fears that the U.S. election and resurgent COVID-19 pandemic could tip markets back into the sort of chaos endured earlier this year.
Investors pulled out of U.S. corporate bonds on Wednesday as the three major stock indexes sold off on reports of higher COVID-19 cases worldwide and on nerves about next week's U.S. presidential election.
Unilever, Procter & Gamble and other major consumer goods manufacturers are touting lower-priced brands, smaller packages and discounts to woo penny-pinching shoppers struggling through the most severe global recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Wall Street faces a rocky run-up to Election Day, with mounting worries about the outcome in Washington adding to nerves about the coronavirus pandemic and fading chances of stimulus.
Investors have been buying options on eurodollar futures and interest rate swaps to bet on higher rates and falling U.S. Treasury debt prices if lawmakers pass more fiscal stimulus after next month’s presidential election, if not before.
Banks that facilitated the U.S. government's Paycheck Protection Program at first saw the effort as a small revenue booster with a patriotic bonus, shepherding $525 billion in loans to businesses slammed by the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fund managers betting that green-type stocks with environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials will benefit from an expected win by Democrat Joe Biden in the U.S. presidential election are also looking at a swathe of other companies expected to rise along with them.
