- Stock markets globally have mostly seen rises over the past day, although U.S. markets have been relatively flat. Both the Chinese Hang Seng Index and the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index have reached new record high prices.
- The Forex market looks quiet and indecisive, with the U.S. dollar making modest gains. The euro is relatively weak while the Australian dollar is relatively strong.
- Bitcoin has made gains and broken above a key resistance level. It is now looking more likely that Bitcoin will continue to rise and challenge its recent all-time high at $42,000.
- Aides of President-Elect Biden have leaked to the media that his stimulus package will total approximately $2 trillion, as new data shows that the U.S. budget deficit has widened by 61% due mostly to spending related to fighting the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
- WTI crude oil has continued to rise as high as $53.90, reaching its highest price in almost one year.
- The U.S. House of Representatives voted yesterday with unprecedented speed to impeach the president. However the Senate debates and votes, which is unlikely to be in favor of impeachment, it will not take place until after President Trump leaves office next week. It is clear that this is political theatre that will have no real impact on the market.
- Real-world data on the effectiveness of the new coronavirus vaccine has begun to be reported. A study in Israel on hundreds of thousands who have received the first dose has shown that the Pfizer vaccine is 50% effective in reducing infection from 14 days after the first shot.
- Yesterday saw the highest global coronavirus daily death toll yet recorded, at 16,362. Both the U.S. and the U.K. reported record daily death dolls yesterday.
- Global coronavirus deaths have increased dramatically since early October to reach a level approximately 91% higher than the peak last April.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 92.7 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.14%.
- The fastest progression in terms of immunizing a population against the coronavirus has been in Israel, which has already administered a first shot of the Pfizer vaccine to 23% of its entire population (including 75% of the over-60s) and began administering second doses since the weekend. The U.A.E. ranks second, having now vaccinated 14% of its population. For most of the world, a vaccine seems distant: only 12 countries have vaccinated more than 1% of their population so far.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Bahrain, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, the U.A.E., Uruguay, and Venezuela.