In a surprising move, the Bank of Canada yesterday announced the end of its bond purchase program and signaled rate hikes would come sooner than had been expected. This sent the Canadian stock market lower and boosted the CAD somewhat. It also likely contributed to a weak day for stock markets globally.
The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady and lowered its growth estimates, which helped send the Japanese and other Asian stock markets lower.
Bitcoin is threatening to make a major breakdown as the floor at about $58,500 is clearly a very pivotal area. If the price holds up, it could begin another strong rise from here. The short-term price action currently suggests that it will hold.
The European Central Bank will make its monthly policy release today, so there may be volatility in the euro later following the release.
The Forex market is relatively quiet and somewhat mixed, with the New Zealand dollar looking relatively strong and the Swiss franc looking relatively weak. As the USD is trading sideways, this suggests currency crosses could be interesting to trade today.
Last week saw the first global weekly rise in new confirmed coronavirus cases in two months.
It is estimated that 48.9% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 245.2 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.03%.
The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine.