US CPI data was released yesterday showing month-on-month inflation rose at 0.4%, higher than the 0.3% which had been expected by the market consensus. This equates to an annualized rate of 5.4% which is the highest rate seen in the US for many years. The US dollar dropped on the news, although US stocks have already recovered from their initial drop.
The FOMC released its minutes of last month’s meeting which showed the committee expects to begin tapering QE between mid-November and mid-December this year. Participants also were concerned that inflation may be a more permanent phenomenon than had initially been expected.
WTI Crude Oil November futures dipped slightly, but the price is rising again near $81 which suggests that the bullish trend is maintaining positive momentum, so we are likely to see new highs in the crude oil price over the coming days.
In the Forex market, the USD/JPY has already bounced back from yesterday’s dip and is trading near the recent high made at 113.78. This is due mostly to weakness in the Japanese yen, and we are likely to see the price continue to rise over the short term. The EUR/USD currency pair is also in a long-term trend (bearish) but the price is currently making a strong bullish retracement.
The cryptocurrency sector looks strong today, with Bitcoin showing positive momentum and reaching a new 5-month high price above $58k.
Global stock markets are mostly higher, with north American markets bouncing back after the dip seen yesterday.
Australian unemployment data showed a stronger net jobs loss last month than had been expected.
Today will see a release of US PPI data.
Last week saw the seventh consecutive weekly fall in global new confirmed coronavirus cases.
It is estimated that 47.7% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 239.9 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.04%.
The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Armenia, Australia, Barbados, Bulgaria, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the Ukraine.