Investors are getting nervous – equities are dropping

Friday started with a bearish sentiment as stock indices were already 1% weaker during the London session, and it seems like the negative sentiment could persist throughout the whole day.

Thursday saw the first rise in the number of Americans filing for unemployment claims since the last week in March, as some states rolled back reopenings because of the pandemic.

Data showed on Thursday that for the eighteenth week in a row, over 1 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time (1.416 million was notably worse than the 1.30 million expected). That brought the eighteen-week total to 52.69 million, dramatically more than at any period in American history.

Meanwhile, British retail sales beat expectations and showed a robust rebound for July. 

The focus will now shift to July’s PMIs from the eurozone, which might surpass expectations yet again. That could ease the tense from today’s trading and might help the bulls to stop the decline in equities.