The Bank of Japan released its monthly policy earlier today, making no changes. The yen was little affected.
Global stock markets are mostly lower again although the Chinese market looks to be closing up today and higher opens are seen as likely on a few exchanges. The S&P 500 Index has touched its 100-day moving average..
In the Forex market, prevailing risk-off sentiment is boosting the US dollar, while the euro and the British pound look weak. Commodity currencies no longer look to be the weakest sector. We have a valid long-term bullish trend in the USD.
The US Federal Reserve’s monthly policy release is due from the FOMC later today. This is usually the most important event in the Forex market and is likely to move the price of the USD. Ahead of the meeting, the general expectation is that the Federal Reserve will begin tapering in November 2021. If it indicated otherwise, that could cause a notable move in the USD.
Precious metals and major cryptos are putting in a bit of a bullish bounce despite the US dollar’s general advance, after falling firmly.
Last week saw the fourth consecutive weekly fall in global new confirmed coronavirus cases after over 2 months of weekly rises, suggesting the global wave driven by the delta variant may have peaked.
It is estimated that 43.5% of the world’s population has had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 230.3 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.05%.
The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia, Brazil, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Egypt, South Korea, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, and the Ukraine.