German data
In Europe’s powerhouse economy, the manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) exceeded the expected level of 44.2 in June with 45.2, and rose well above the previous bottom point at 36.6.
According to the data released by the Federal Labor Agency on Wednesday, the unemployment rate change in Germany increased by 69 thousand in June, compared to 120 thousand expectations. In May, this figure was 238 thousand.
The unemployment rate thus increased from 6.3% to 6.4%, compared to the expectation of 6.6%.
The total number of unemployed people in Germany remained just under 3 million at 2 million 943 thousand. The figure constitutes the highest the country has seen since 2011. But federal officials said generous state aid has prevented further deterioration.
Retail sales in Germany exceeded expectations of 3.9% at 13.9% in May. The previous figure was -6.5%.
Euro PMI
Factories in the Eurozone performed stronger than expected in June. Consumer goods producers caught the biggest momentum in 19 countries sharing the euro.
Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers index increased from 39.4 in May to 47.4, the highest level in four months.
European stock downtime
Deutsche Boerse said that transactions on many European exchanges, including Frankfurt and Vienna, were interrupted Wednesday morning due to a “technical problem” on the German electronic commerce platform Xetra.
Deutsche Boerse spokesperson said the cut in the full electronic cash market trading system affected the stock exchanges in Frankfurt, Vienna, Ljubljana, Prague, Budapest, Zagreb, Malta, and Sofia because they used the Xetra T7 system.
The agency stated that the trade continued in the affected exchanges after approximately two and a half hours of downtime.
Hong Kong tension
UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Wednesday that China’s implementation of the security law for Hong Kong was a “clear and serious” violation of the 1984 Joint Declaration between the two countries.
“We have very carefully now assessed the contents of this national security legislation since it was published last night,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Reuters.
“It constitutes a clear violation of the autonomy of Hong Kong and a direct threat to the freedoms of its people, and therefore I’m afraid to say it is a clear and serious violation of the Joint Declaration treaty between the United Kingdom and China,” he explained.
In Hong Kong, the police began to detain those who protested against the CCP’s new law, on the grounds that they were against the law in question. The law threatens life imprisonment on those who use separatist slogans and symbols.
US Second wave
In many parts of the US, especially in the southern states, COVID-19 cases rose more than 47,000, with the largest one-day increase since the start of the pandemic on Tuesday.
California, Texas, and Arizona have emerged as the US epicenters of the second wave pandemic, reporting record increases in COVID-19 cases. Covid19 cases in California rose by 8,441 on Tuesday, recording their biggest one-day rise.
“Clearly we are not in total control right now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a US Senate committee. “I am very concerned because it could get very bad.”
