HEZU

While the relentless spread of the coronavirus drove the equity market lower on Monday, there were also signs investors are preparing for a greater possibility that Democrats will gain control of the U.S. Senate.

Three big players have long made up the majority of the $5.4 trillion U.S. exchange-traded fund industry, but their latest offerings were also-rans in a record year for new product launches.

Chinese stocks listed in the U.S., including China Telecom Corp. and Pinduoduo Inc., fell on the prospect of further sanctions that would remove more of the Asian nation’s biggest companies from American stock exchanges.

The dollar is consolidating yesterday's losses.Equities are lower, and benchmark yields are little changed.The S&P 500 is trading a little lower following yesterday's 0.2% decline.Gold rose almost 1% yesterday, the most in a couple of weeks, on the back of the weaker dollar.WTI for December delivery slumped 4% yesterday and slipped below the $40-mark and straddled today.

The dollar is falling against most of the world's currencies today.Sterling and the Norwegian krone are leading the majors higher.The Chinese yuan extended its gains and is now at the best level since July 2018.In Asia, most of the large markets gained, but China, India, and a handful of smaller bourses were sold.Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is off for the third day and the sixth session in the past seven.

The central banks have increased their assets by 38.5% in the last twelve months, which has had a profound effect on both the bond and equity markets globally.They have pushed down interest rates for their nations, in an attempt to control the debt of their respective governments, as all of the governments borrowed more and more money to support their economies during the pandemic.The ECB and the BOJ have pushed their yields below the once-unthinkable line of zero. The Fed may also be motivated into negative interest rates if the Democrats win the upcoming US elections.

Could new COVID-19 lockdowns in Europe threaten the region's recovery?Potential U.S. election outcomes and impacts.Behind the September U.S. retail sales report.