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Investing.com – European stock markets are seen opening mixed Tuesday, as investors weigh up the potential for more stimulus and the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread, while gold extends gains.
At 2:25 AM ET (0605 GMT), the DAX futures contract in Germany traded unchanged from Monday, the FTSE 100 futures contract in the U.K. rose 0.2%, while CAC 40 futures in France fell 0.1%.
U.S. Republicans unveiled their latest $1 trillion stimulus package on Monday. They now need to find a compromise between this plan and the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion proposal before some of the earlier support measures expire at the end of the week.
At the same time, there are signs of improvement in the U.S.’s battle with the Covid-19 virus. New infections fell to their lower in nearly three weeks at the weekend, suggesting a slowdown beyond the normal weekend dip. That said, Hong Kong, Australia, Spain and Germany are some of the locations also dealing with a renewed spike in cases.
Global Covid-19 deaths topped 650,000, with the number of cases topping 16.4 million as of July 28, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Fear about the virus’ spread drove gold prices to a record high on Tuesday morning in Asia, closing in on the $2,000/oz level, while EUR/USD traded at 1.1739, down 0.1%.
It’s unusual for the price of gold to do so well at the same as stocks, but it remains one of few assets for which a simple and convincing bull case can be made in the post-Covid world..
Turning back to Europe, there is limited economic data due Tuesday, but earnings season continues.
Peugeot (PA:PEUP) reported a sharp drop in its net profit in the first half of 2020, but the French car maker said it was aiming for a “solid rebound” in the second half of the year.
ING (AS:INGA) said it expects to book a 300 million-euro goodwill impairment charge for its second quarter, triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Elsewhere, Delivery Hero (DE:DHER) has benefited from the lockdown measures to combat the coronavirus, with the German food-delivery company raising its full-year guidance following a revenue and orders jump in the second quarter.
Oil prices were largely unchanged Tuesday, with U.S. crude futures traded 0.3% lower at $41.49 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 0.1% to $43.92.
Traders will be watching out for U.S. inventory data due from the American Petroleum Institute industry group later on Tuesday and the government on Wednesday.
