Dow slid back 34 after being much higher all day, decliners over advancers 3-2 & NAZ fell 350. The MLP index added 2 to the 184s & the REIT index gained 5+ to the 429s. Junk bond funds continued higher & Treasuries were weak in PM trading. Oil was little changed in the high 64s & gold added 5 to 1836 (more on both below).
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.2180338269244485)
The global tally of confirmed cases of the coronavirus-borne illness COVID-19 climbed above 158, as cases continue to surge in Southeast Asia, & especially India, & BioNTech (BNTX) said there’s no evidence the vaccine it developed with Pfizer (PFE) needs adapting to protect against variants. India reported 360K new cases today, while more than 3700 people died. India's case tally has now climbed above 22.6M & more than 246K fatalities, numbers that experts widely deem to be massively undercounted. India's hospitals are struggling with a shortage of supplies, including testing, treatments & oxygen, & fears are growing for the northeastern state of Assam, where cases are spreading faster than anywhere else. The Indian Medical Association has joined a chorus of voices calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lock the whole country down, instead of relying on regional measures that have so far failed to contain the spread of 2 highly infectious variants, including the B.1.617 strain, a double-mutant variant that has 2 spike proteins instead of one. The association said it was “astonished to see the extreme lethargy and inappropriate actions from the Ministry of Health in combating the agonizing crisis born out of the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
India’s COVID crisis deepens, as BioNTech says there’s no evidence its vaccine needs adapting to cope with new variants
Gold prices climbed, headed for a 4th consecutive gain, supported by a fall in the $ to a roughly 2½-month low, as well as some weakness in the stock market. Jun gold was up $6 to settle at $1837 an ounce, after the most-active contract logged a 3.6% weekly gain. Prices extended a climb to the highest in 3 months On Fri, gold booked the highest finish in almost 3 months after the Labor Dept reported that the economy gained 266K jobs in Apr, far fewer than even the most subdued forecast for the month, raising some questions about the strength & pace of the recovery from the COVID pandemic.
Gold extends climb to highest level since February as dollar sinks to 2 1/2-month low
Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservative alliance has seen its popularity ratings hit an all-time low, deepening an apparent shift in voter trends in Germany. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union & its affiliated Bavarian party saw their popularity fall to 23% in the latest voter poll. The survey showed support for Merkel's CDU-CSU bloc had fallen yet again, from 24% the previous week to hit its lowest level in the history of the weekly poll. The Green Party remained in the lead with 26% of the vote, albeit with its rating also down 1 percentage point from the week before. In 3rd place, with 16%, was the Social Democratic Party, the current junior coalition partner with the CDU-CSU. The center-left SPD yesterday that the Finance Minister Olaf Scholz will lead its election campaign. So he will be facing the Greens' Annalena Baerbock & the center-right CDU-CSU’s candidate Armin Laschet in the race to replace Merkel in Sep's vote. In a show of just how much voter trends are changing, the Green Party has gone from being a fringe movement to a contender to lead gov. If current opinion polls are borne out in the election, the Greens will lead Germany's gov with a likely a coalition partner or 2. The departure of Merkel after 4 terms in office is heralding a shift in German politics. But the coronavirus crisis also might have shaped a fall from grace for the CDU-CSU bloc over its handling of the pandemic — a challenge for any gov.
Merkel’s bloc hits historic low in polls just as Covid rules start to loosen
Oil futures ended a few pennies higher, after a ransomware attack forced the shutdown of pipelines supplying around 45% of fuel to the East Coast. Crude prices spent some time during the session trading a bit lower on expectations that the US will have to slow its refining activities & boost imports of gasoline. West Texas Intermediate crude for Jun rose 2¢ to settle at $64.92 a barrel. Jul Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 4¢ at $68.32 a barrel.
Oil ends pennies higher as traders weigh impact of Colonial Pipeline cyberattac
The Dow topped 35K in early trading, but was hit selling in the PM. Tech stocks had no fans today. The India story is dreary, a dark cloud hanging over the stock market.
Dow Jones Industrials
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