By
Steve Muchoki
April 16th, 2024
Analysts have agreed that the primary concern for investors at the current moment mostly revolves around whether Trump’s illness will affect a presidential race in which he continues to lag behind Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
After closing last week on a suspenseful note, major global markets managed to rebound during Monday’s Asian trading session. The markets have turned positive as investors closely monitor events surrounding President Donald Trump‘s response to coronavirus treatment, after Trump and the First Lady tested positive last week.
Notably, during the late Asian trading session, international benchmark Brent crude futures were up 2.19% to $40.13 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also advanced 2.59% to $38.01 per barrel. In addition, the Australian Beach Energy rose 5.6% while Santos gained 4.39%, while Japan’s Inpex jumped 3.57%.
As for the U.S. leading stock indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 154 points, or 0.6%, to 27,719, while S&P 500 futures were up 0.5% at 3,357.25. The Nasdaq-100 futures had gained 0.7% to trade at 11,313.
Global Markets and Trump Coronavirus Treatment
The rebound is largely attributed to the reassurance investors are getting from President Trump’s positive response to the coronavirus treatment.
President Trump has been active over the weekend through his official twitter page with assurance videos to his followers.
Notably, Analysts have agreed that the primary concern for investors at present mostly revolves around whether Trump’s illness will affect a presidential race in which he continues to lag behind Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Furthermore, investors are also weighing prospects for agreement on a stimulus package.
“The initial stock market reaction to news of President Trump’s COVID test never made much sense,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a Sunday note. “Sure, markets do not like uncertainty, but in a country where the election is only four weeks away, and very few voters remain undecided, it’s hard to see how Mr. Trump’s diagnosis materially changes the race.”
As the President continues to receive VIP treatment, there are mixed reactions on the whole matter. This comes at a time when several treatment drugs are still undergoing clinical tests and await FDA final approval.
As his medical team works to give him the best care available, concerns of how mixed drugs react to him are arising from different medics.
“Presidents get treated differently,” said Art Caplan, director of medical ethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. “Doctors get more aggressive. They are going to go in there and do everything that they can. You don’t want to be blamed for losing his life.”
Hereby, there are concerns that this may be a double-edged sword later in the near future. “We are maximizing all aspects of his care, attacking this virus in a multipronged approach,” Conley said during his first briefing about Trump’s condition. “This is the president and I didn’t want to hold anything back. If there was any possibility that it would add value to his care and expedite his return, I wanted to take it.”
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