Market Commentary 19 Feb 2020

Hi there and welcome to RockGlobal and another market commentary from the third week of February 2020.

A lot going on in the markets this week and primarily still the focus is on the coronavirus, so where are we with that? Yes, the markets traded higher up overnight after China reported the slowest increase in new infections since the end of January, so that's positive news that pushed everything up but the new death number is still at 108 just for yesterday so it's a bit of a mixed bag. Markets took it positively with the US markets reaching another fresh high, the S&P closing at 3,386 which is pretty much a new record high. Also the European and Asian markets also slightly higher based on that news regarding the infections.

On the other side, the gold market has also reached new heights now breaking through $1,600 again. It looks like investors seem to be hedging some of the exposure because of the record-breaking highs in the equity markets so we may see a correction at some point, maybe, it also depends on the coronavirus developments.

In other news, one stock which has done very well is Virgin Galactic which surged by 23% just yesterday so there's a lot of volatility in these tech stocks. After Tesla, we seem to see a lot of movements from last month as well but this seems to be the new live stocks for speculators at the moment.

Also in the currency markets, EUR/USD is trading at the lowest level in around three years so Euro is trading significantly lower over the last couple of months.

The only other news that has come out recently is Manchester City breaking their financial play rules with the revenue reporting which is really interesting, not really going to do too much to the markets but yeah interesting times to come with the appeal of a suspension of the Champions League for two years. For all of you football fans or for some of the football fans that is a significant announcement as well. I think that's it for now and we will see you next week.

All views, news, analysis, quotes, or other information from Rockfort Group and its subsidiaries are general market commentary only and does not constitute investment advice. Before making any investment please consult your financial adviser.