US stocks open mostly lower as coronavirus crisis continues
US stock indices fell Friday, after weak data and lingering concerns over the growing coronavirus crisis.
The US reported today that coronavirus infections increased by 63,000 new cases after yesterday's record spike of 65,000 cases, while health experts believe that the actual numbers are much higher.
The World Health Organization warned yesterday that the virus is still spreading at a high rate, and it might be airborne in crowded places.
The US producer price index reading for June shrunk by 0.2%, lower than forecasts of rising by 0.4%.
As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.3% or 70 points to 25,777 as of 14:16 GMT, while Nasdaq fell 40 points to 10,508, and S&P 500 held at 3,152.
Copper soars over 1% despite coronavirus worries
Copper futures rose on Friday, as the US dollar fell against most currencies, despite fears over the coronavirus crisis.
After Johns Hopkins University reported that infections to more than 12 million confirmed cases worldwide, the global markets have been thick with worries over reimposing the coronavirus restrictions.
White House chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci hinted the possibility of a return of the public lockdown in some US states.
The US health authorities reported that coronavirus infections saw a spike by 63,000 new cases today, .
The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.2% to 96.5 points as of 13:31 GMT, after it hit a high of 96.9 and a low of 96.5.
Copper September futures rose 1.5% to $2.88 per pound as of 13:30 GMT, after hitting a session-high of $2.88 and a low of $2.82.
Canadian economy adds more jobs than expected
At 12:30 GMT, the Canadian economy released its reading for the non-farm employment change index, as the economy has added 952.9K new jobs in June, higher than forecasts of 700K jobs, and higher than the previous reading of 289.6 million. This data is considered positive for the Canadian economy.