US President Biden says nothing can be done to change path of pandemic in coming months – Reuters

US President Joe Biden, speaking to the press on Friday evening, said that there is nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months, reported Reuters. The economic crisis is deepening, added the President, who said that Americans who are seeing their paychecks reduced are barely hanging on. 

Biden reiterated his call to act decisively. He has proposed that Congress pass a $1.9T “rescue” package in February to get aid out to where it is needed and to then be followed up by an as of yet unknown in size “recovery” package to invest in things like infrastructure. 

Market Reaction

There has been no reaction at all to these comments, although the line about the inability of US authorities to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the coming months could be interpreted as a somewhat alarming admission that the pandemic is essentially out of control. Whilst financial markets have for the most part been focused on the post-pandemic economic recovery, which is expected to commence in H2 2021 after the US achieves some degree of herd immunity following mass vaccination programmes, if things do continue to get uglier in the coming months, this may weigh on sentiment. However, as long as the Fed remains accommodative, stocks ought to remain supported and the USD close to recent lows.