(Bloomberg) — U.S. and European equity futures fell with Asian stocks and the dollar climbed after President Donald Trump said he had tested positive for the coronavirus.Trump said that both he and the First Lady Melania Trump tested positive and that they will now quarantine themselves. They were tested after Hope Hicks, one of his closest aides, returned a positive result for Covid-19. The yen and Treasuries, often seen as havens in times of market stress, rose. Nasdaq 100 futures were about 2% lower and crude oil extended losses. Contracts on the Cboe Volatility Index surged about 10%.“This is a big shock — these are completely exogenous events,” David Page, head of macroeconomics at AXA Investment Managers, said on Bloomberg TV. “It’s quite natural to see a bit of risk off.”S&P 500 contracts had seen mild weakness earlier after the House of Representatives passed a $2.2 trillion Democrat-only fiscal stimulus package that Republicans reject. Next up comes the monthly U.S. payrolls data later Friday.In Japan, stocks erased initial gains and were down about 1% after trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange resumed following Thursday’s outage. Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and South Korea are shut for holidays. The offshore yuan edged back from its strongest level since May 2019.Global equities have struggled since reaching a peak in September, leaving investors looking for the next market catalysts amid the continuing fallout from the pandemic. Thousands of job cuts this week showed how firms are still wrestling with readjustments needed to survive in the pandemic era as virus cases continue to climb.Elsewhere, copper extended Thursday’s slide, when it lost more than 4% — the most since March. Oil had been falling on concerns of oversupply.These are the main moves in markets:StocksS&P 500 futures fell 1.5% as of 7:17 a.m. in London. The index rose 0.5% on Thursday.Japan’s Topix index retreated 1%.Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 1.4%.Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 1.1%.CurrenciesThe Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%.The yen was at 105.05 per dollar, up 0.5%.The offshore yuan dropped 0.4% to 6.7727 per dollar.The euro bought $1.1723, down 0.2%.BondsThe yield on 10-year Treasuries fell about two basis points to 0.66%.Australia’s 10-year yield dropped to 0.83%.CommoditiesWest Texas Intermediate crude fell to $37.35 a barrel, down 3.5%.Gold was at $1,907.08 an ounce, recovering earlier losses.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
