- The global stock market rally continues. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and NASDAQ 100 indices in North America hit new all-time high prices in off-hours trading, while the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index continues to power up beyond 30,000. Historical precedent suggests that these markets are likely to continue to rise over the coming days, with the S&P 500 in sight of the big round number at 4,000.
- In the Forex market, the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen continue to weaken. The British pound and the Australian dollar look to be the strongest currencies today, while the Japanese yen is the weakest.
- The GBP/USD currency pair is trading above $1.3900 for the first time in over 2.5 years. The British pound is likely to continue rising in value over the coming days.
- Bitcoin traded at a new all-time high price just below $50,000 per coin a few hours ago.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia released its monetary policy meeting minutes which stated that “very significant monetary support” will be needed for the foreseeable future, yet this has done little to dent the bullish Aussie, which is one of the strongest major currencies.
- U.S. Treasury yields are continuing to rise, boosting the rise in stock markets.
- Global coronavirus deaths have increased dramatically since early October to reach a level 107% higher than the peak last April about three weeks ago. However, deaths have been falling for three weeks worldwide and are now only 88% higher than in April 2020.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 109.7 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.21%. The numbers of confirmed new cases and deaths globally have been falling over the past four weeks, so there are signs the current heavy global wave may have peaked.
- 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 43% of its entire population and a second dose to 28% (which includes approximately 90% of over-60s and 80% of over-50s). The U.A.E. ranks second, having now given 51 vaccines per 100 of its population. For most of the world, a vaccine remains distant: only 43 countries have vaccinated more than 5% of their population so far. Progress remains slow in the hard-hit European Union.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Chile, Cuba, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kosovo, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Senegal, Somalia, Thailand, and the Ukraine.