Stocks Retreat As Initial Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Increase

Virus Worries Put Some Pressure On S&P 500 Futures In Premarket Trading

Yesterday, New York City made a decision to close public schools as coronavirus cases surged. This decision put significant pressure on S&P 500 which lost plenty of ground in the last few hours of Wednesday’s trading session.

Today, S&P 500 futures are losing some ground in premarket trading, but worries about new anti-virus restrictions are somewhat offset by positive news on the vaccine front.

AstraZeneca has recently stated that its COVID-19 vaccine produced strong immune response in older adults. Interestingly, AstraZeneca’s report had little impact on the company’s shares which are up by less than 1% in premarket trading. Most likely, traders want to see the final results of the ongoing trials before making conclusions.

Earlier, Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine showed 94% efficiency in adults over 65 years old, and it looks like mutliple vaccines may be suitable for the most vulnerable part of the population.

Gold And Silver Move Lower

Unlike stock traders, precious metal traders decided to completely ignore the near-term developments on the coronavirus front and focused on the encouraging vaccine news.

As a result, gold and silver are under material pressure. The current situation is especially worrisome for gold bulls as gold is trying to settle below the key support area at $1850 – $1860. A move below this level may lead to a sell-off.

In this light, shares of precious metals miners will likely move lower at the beginning of today’s trading session in continuation of yesterday’s sell-off.

Initial Jobless Claims Increase To 742,000

The U.S. has just provided Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Jobless Claims reports.

The Initial Jobless Claims report indicated that 742,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits in a week. Analysts expected Initial Jobless Claims of 707,000. Continuing Jobless Claims declined from 6.79 million to 6.37 million.

The sudden increase in the number of Initial Jobless Claims shows that the second wave of the virus has started to put material pressure on the job market.

Later, U.S. will provide Existing Home Sales report for October. Analysts expect that Existing Home Sales declined by 1.2% month-over-month after growing by as much as 9.4% in September.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.