International Monetary Fund and Stocks on June 25

Two days ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), slashed its economic forecasts once again. The fund expects the global gross domestic product (GDP) to contract by 4.9% in 2020. This news affected stocks.

The coronavirus pandemic created a lot of problems in the first half of 2020. Furthermore, it will take more time to recover from this crisis.

Importantly, U.S. stocks fell on June 24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 710.16 points or 2.7% to close at 25,445.94. Also, the S&P 500 finished its trading day 2.6% lower 3,050.33.

Moreover, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2% to close at 9,909.17. Unfortunately, it was the worst day for the Dow, S&P 500, as well as for Nasdaq since June 11.

Stocks in Asia and the global economy

Stocks fell in the Asia Pacific on Thursday. As stated above, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to change its economic forecast once again and this decision had a negative impact on stocks.

Importantly, shares in Australia led losses among the region’s major markets. The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 2.48% to close at 5,817.70.

Also, South Korea’s Kospi index fell on June 25. The index fell 2.27% to end its trading day at 2,112.37.

Japanese stocks also failed to strengthen their positions. For example, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.22% to close at 22,259.79. In the meantime, the Topix index fell 1.18% to close at 1,561.85.

Let’s have a look at the shares of Olympus in Japan. The share of the company of Olympus jumped 11.15% on Thursday. One day earlier, Olympus signed a memorandum of understanding with investment fund Japan Industrial Partners, to sell its camera division.

Last but not least, markets in China, as well as Hong Kong, were closed on Thursday for holiday.

As can be seen from the data released by the IMF, the second half of the year will be quite difficult for the global economy.