- Stock markets outside Asia continued their strong recoveries from last week’s dip, especially in the U.S. where major indices such as the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100 have again closed at record highs.
- In the Forex market, the USD and JPY are in strong long-term bullish trends, but the short-term price movement has been counter to that, with risk currencies yesterday bid against the USD, JPY, and CHF. The currencies showing the greatest long-term weakness are the CAD, the AUD, and the EUR, so if the bullish USD trend resumes, these will likely be the currencies to focus on as short counterparties for that trade. However, the recent Asian session has seen the U.S. dollar claw back some ground, which may spark a downwards movement in the EUR/USD currency pair over the course of today.
- It may be a relatively quiet day in the markets today, as there are no high-impact data release items scheduled. However, that will change tomorrow, so we may see notably increased volatility in the Forex market after today is done. Attention will begin to turn to tomorrow’s Jackson Hole symposium and the forthcoming release of preliminary U.S. GDP data.
- Last week saw a ninth consecutive weekly rise in global new confirmed coronavirus cases, although the pace of the increase has slowed significantly. Some countries have begun giving booster vaccinations to individuals who were already vaccinated some months ago, which seems to be providing sharply increased protection.
- It is estimated that 24.6% of the world’s population has been fully innoculated against the novel coronavirus.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 214 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.09%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Ethiopia, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Japan, Kosovo, Malaysia, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Philippines, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, the U.S., the U.K. and Vietnam.