As China has moved away from its “zero” policy cases, they have skyrocketed. While widespread lockdowns are a thing of the past, self-imposed isolation and disease are impacting the Chinese economy as workers stay at home and others (on the fringes) avoid being on the move.

A media report (Caixin in China) is encouraging:

  • A Chinese-developed Covid-19 Covid-19 Covid-19, or the novel coronavirus, is a pandemic that has caused widespread economic turmoil and volatility in financial markets in 2020. The first cases of Covid-19 were reported in Wuhan, China recently in 2019. Since then, the virus has spread globally, infecting millions of people worldwide. The virus has been extremely controversial, particularly in the United States, which became heavily politicized during the 2020 presidential election. The Covid-19 pandemic is completely unprecedented in modern times, the most recent example being the 1918 flu outbreak. Financial markets and the global economy were completely unprepared for the magnitude of the virus, resulting in massive shutdowns, unemployment and other hardships in efforts to contain and mitigate the virus. How has Covid-19 affected the markets? Virtually every asset has been impacted by Covid-19 in some way. Financial markets and stocks collapsed early on, bottoming out in March 2020 in the United States and Europe. Widespread lockdowns led to an economic standstill, prompting stimulus packages to keep the domestic economy afloat. The result of this was a devaluation of currencies like the US dollar, with the Federal Reserve printing billions of dollars to offset economic losses. Since then, forex markets have experienced historic levels of volatility, leading some to classify the Covid-19 pandemic as a black swan event. At the time of writing, financial markets have largely recovered in 2020, although much headwind remains in relation to the economic recovery. For now, unemployment rates and other indicators remain problematic and, coupled with rising infection rates, point to additional monetary policy action or stimulus in both Europe and the US. At the time of writing, there is no vaccine for Covid-19, although several companies such as Pfizer and Moderna are on the verge of producing a viable vaccine. Covid-19 or the novel coronavirus is a pandemic that has caused widespread economic turmoil and volatility in financial markets in 2020. The first cases of Covid-19 were reported in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Since then, the virus has spread worldwide, infecting millions worldwide. The virus has been extremely controversial, particularly in the United States, which became heavily politicized during the 2020 presidential election. The Covid-19 pandemic is completely unprecedented in modern times, the most recent example being the 1918 flu outbreak. Financial markets and the global economy were completely unprepared for the magnitude of the virus, resulting in massive shutdowns, unemployment and other hardships in efforts to contain and mitigate the virus. How has Covid-19 affected the markets? Virtually every asset has been impacted by Covid-19 in some way. Financial markets and stocks collapsed early on, bottoming out in March 2020 in the United States and Europe. Widespread lockdowns led to an economic standstill, prompting stimulus packages to keep the domestic economy afloat. The result of this was a devaluation of currencies like the US dollar, with the Federal Reserve printing billions of dollars to offset economic losses. Since then, forex markets have experienced historic levels of volatility, leading some to classify the Covid-19 pandemic as a black swan event. At the time of writing, financial markets have largely recovered in 2020, although much headwind remains in relation to the economic recovery. For now, unemployment rates and other indicators remain problematic and, coupled with rising infection rates, point to additional monetary policy action or stimulus in both Europe and the US. At the time of writing, there is no vaccine for Covid-19, although several companies such as Pfizer and Moderna are on the verge of producing a viable vaccine. Read this Term antiviral pill appeared to be as effective as Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid with fewer safety concerns, according to clinical trial results published Wednesday in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

Just as vaccines and treatments have proven to be a way out for other countries around the world, so will they for China. More information at the link above.

ADVERTISING – READ MORE BELOW