- Stock markets mostly rose yesterday, with most major indices broadly bullish except in Asia. The S&P 500 Index closed at a record high, suggesting yet higher prices are likely to be reached over the coming days.
- In the Forex market, we are seeing the USD/JPY currency pair trading at a 50-day low price near an area of key support around 109.00. If the price can get established below 109.00 it will be likely to fall further. We are seeing a strong bid in the NZD following the release of very strong employment data there. The Canadian and US dollars seem to be the weakest major currencies today.
- New Zealand unemployment data came in considerably stronger than expected, with the unemployment rate at only 4% compared to the consensus forecast of 4.4%.
- Today will see the release of the US ADP non-farm employment data forecast and ISM Services PMI data.
- Last week saw a sixth consecutive weekly rise in global new confirmed coronavirus cases, suggesting that the pandemic is advancing again due to the spread of the more highly infectious Delta (Indian) variant, which vaccines are clearly less effective against, at least in terms of preventing infection. New data from Israel suggests the effectiveness of vaccines may drop greatly after only a few months, but British data contradict such strong findings.
- It is estimated that 14.8% of the world’s population has been fully innoculated against the novel coronavirus.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 200.2 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.13%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Algeria, Australia, Bangladesh, Cuba, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Honduras, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the U.S., Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.