Brazil’s Ibovespa gained 88 points or 0.1% to 102,382 on Friday despite a sell-off in US and China after tensions between both countries escalated as China ordered the US to close its consulate in the city of Chengdu. On the domestic side, bets for an interest rate cut were nudged by mid-July inflation data below consensus. On the COVID front, Brazil registered 59,961 additional cases and reported for a second day over 1 thousand deaths. During the week, the Ibovespa lost 0.5%.

Wall Street closed in the red to extend a sell-off triggered by sharp weekly declines in Big Tech, the US-China tensions, still-high coronavirus cases in the US, and worse-than-expected unemployment data. On the corporate side, Intel shares plunged 16% after the chipmaker revised downwardly its guidance for Q3 and delayed the release of its next-generation chips. The Dow Jones fell 182 points or 0.6% to 26,470. The S&P 500 dropped 20 points, or 0.6% to 3,216. The Nasdaq shed 98 points, or 0.9% to 10,363. During the week, the Dow Jones declined 0.7% and the S&P 500 lost 0.2%, both suffering its first negative week in four. Meantime, the Nasdaq tanked 1.3%, its first back-to-back weekly losses since May.

Gold prices settled at $1,897.50 an ounce on Friday, following six straight days of gains, edging closer to its all-time high of $1,920 hit in September of 2011. Renewed tensions between the US and China and worries over global growth increased demand for safety. Gold is likely to continue its trajectory amid expectations for increased stimulus to aid the recovery of pandemic-hit economies and concerns of inflation. For the week, gold climbed 4.8%, its seventh consecutive weekly rise and the most since the week ended April 9th. Meantime, Silver surged 15.6% on the week to settle at $22.85 an ounce, its highest close since September 19th of 2013.

The dollar index fell 1.7% on the week to end at a near two-year low of 94.35 on Friday. It is the fifth straight week of falls and the biggest decline in almost four months, as investors came to terms that US recovery will take longer as the coronavirus pandemic in the US is far from controlled and some states have rolled back reopening plans. Meanwhile, other countries including EU members seem to have passed the pick of infections and initiated new stimulus schemes to support further the economic recovery.

WTI crude futures edged up 0.4% to settle at $41.29 a barrel on Friday, after flash PMIs for the Eurozone, Germany and UK beat expectations, raising confidence in the global economic recovery. Still, rising tensions between the US and China, a spike in coronavirus infections and concerns about the strength of the American recovery capped gains. Beijing ordered Washington to close its consulate in Chengdu, in response to the US decision to close the Chinese consulate in Houston. On the coronavirus front, the US death toll passed 1K on Thursday for the 3rd day. On the week, WTI futures gained 1.7%, its third weekly rise in four.

Main European bourses closed down more than 1% on Friday as the escalation of tensions between China and US outweighed strong industry data. Beijing ordered Washington to close its Chengdu consulate, in retaliation for being forced to shut its Houston consulate earlier this week. Meanwhile, the latest round of Brexit negotiations concluded with EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier saying that the two sides were still divided on key issues. On a positive note, the latest PMI survey suggested the Eurozone economy expanded the most for over two years, beating market expectations, led by strong growth in Germany and France. For the week, the DAX edged down 0.6%; the FTSE 100 lost 2.6%; the CAC 40 retreated 2.2%; the FTSE MIB fell 1.7% and the IBEX 35 declined 2%.

Sales of new single-family homes in the United States rose by 13.8 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 776 thousand in June 2020, the highest level since July 2007 and easily beating market expectations of 700 thousand, as the housing market continued to recover from the coronavirus hit amid record low interest rates. New home sales increased across all regions: the South (7.2 percent to 434 thousand); the West (18.0 percent to 203 thousand); the Midwest (10.5 percent to 84 thousand); and the Northeast (89.7 percent to 55 thousand).

The IHS Markit US Services PMI rose to 49.6 in July 2020 from 47.9 in the previous month, missing market consensus of 51.0, a preliminary estimate showed. The latest reading pointed to the sixth month of contraction in the US service sector as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases forced many states to re-impose lockdown measures. New business fell at a slightly quicker rate, while pressure on capacity led to a slight increase in workforce numbers. On the price front, input cost inflation edged higher as supplier prices were hiked, especially for sanitizing products, while selling prices increased the most since October 2018. Looking ahead, business confidence continued to improve among service providers amid hopes of an end to the pandemic.

The IHS Markit US Manufacturing PMI increased to 51.3 in July of 2020 from 49.8 in June, below market forecasts of 51.5. The reading pointed to the first expansion in factory activity since February. Overall growth was driven by the first upturns in both output and new orders for five months. Firms noted that the rise in production was due to greater new business inflows. Some companies also stated that higher new orders stemmed from the gradual return of customers and stronger underlying demand. Workforce numbers in the manufacturing sector were broadly unchanged in July, as the rate of backlog depletion eased further. Although some firms noted the return of furloughed workers and the hiring of new employees, others remained cautious due to historically muted demand conditions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. Nonetheless, output expectations strengthened to the highest since February amid hopes of a recovery once the pandemic situation improves.