- The Yen weakened considerably during the Asian session, with the USD/JPY currency pair reaching as high as ¥125, after Governor Kuroda reiterated the importance of the Bank of Japan’s 2% inflation policy and stated that the Bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy will continue until that inflation target is reached. There is no question this a very divergent policy and it positions the Yen as clearly the weakest of all major currencies.
- The Forex market is now dominated by strength in the US Dollar, which reached a long-term high after its advance last week, and weakness in the Japanese Yen. There is also short-term weakness in the Australian Dollar.
- The USD/JPY currency pair closed Friday at a multi-year high closing price. The pair looks likely to rise further over the coming days as it continues to rise with some momentum.
- Global stock markets are mostly lower along with US Treasuries, due partially to ongoing concerns over inflation and rising rates. The 10-Year US Treasury yield has hit a 3-year high of 2.77% after rising strongly over recent days.
- Agricultural commodities mostly rose during Friday’s session, with sugar, corn, and soybeans reaching new highs.
- President Macron of France will face Marine Le Pen in the final round of the French presidential election. Opinion polls show Macron very narrowly ahead.
- Bitcoin has continued to trade lower and is threatening to break below the nearest support level at $41,707.
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally fell last week for the third consecutive week.
- It is estimated that 64.7% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 6.3% of the global population is known to have contracted the virus at some stage.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 499.1 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.24%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing only in Barbados, Bhutan, China, Malta, and Taiwan.
- A hard testing lockdown continues into its third week in Shanghai, China.