- The cryptocurrency sector has continued its advance, with Bitcoin and Ethereum now trading well above key round numbers at $40k and $3k respectively. There is bullish momentum in major cryptocurrencies, although it may be that Bitcoin will be held by $45,668 and Ethereum by $3,189.
- Agricultural commodities such as cotton, corn, and soybeans have continued to rise firmly to reach new multi-month high prices, attracting trend traders with access to these assets as CFDs, futures, or ETFs.
- Bonds are trading mostly lower, on fears of increased US rate hikes in 2022. Some US treasuries are trading at multi-month lows.
- WTI Crude Oil remains bullish near its 7-year high made Friday, and continues to look bullish. It looks likely to trade higher, maybe reaching $100 in the coming weeks.
- The Forex market is relatively quiet and in the absence of any major data releases before tomorrow’s US CPI (inflation) data release is likely to remain that way. Over the short term, the NZD is strong while the EUR is weak. Over the longer term, there is a bullish trend in the US dollar.
- Global stock markets were mixed and mostly unchanged during the Asian session.
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally seem to have peaked three weeks ago, suggesting that the omicron variant wave may have already peaked worldwide.
- It is estimated that 61.4% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 398.3 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.45%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Afghanistan, Armenia, Belarus, Bhutan, Brunei, Chile, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Turkey, and the Ukraine.