- Stock markets mostly fell quite strongly yesterday on a deteriorating global growth outlook, with the S&P 500 Index closing sharply lower by 2.81%. However, stocks have mostly stabilized and consolidated during today’s Asian session.
- In the Forex market, the US Dollar continued to advance to new long-term highs against the Euro (5 years), and the British Pound and Swiss Franc (1.5 years). The EUR/USD currency pair looks likely to trade even lower the coming days, with trend traders keen to be short. The Japanese Yen is also stronger as a safe haven in this risk-off environment.
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- Most commodities, as well as US Treasury Yields, traded lower yesterday. Crude Oil, Gasoline, and Corn were three of the few commodities which made gains, with Corn sustaining its long-term bullish trend and continuing to trade not far from its multi-year high.
- Australian CPI (inflation) data released a few hours ago showed inflation rising faster than had been expected: annualized inflation is now running at 5.1%, with the quarterly increase coming in at 2.1% when only 1.7% had been the consensus forecast. The data release did not seem to have any strong effect upon the Australian Dollar, but global analysts will note that inflation data in G20 nations is tending to come in above expectations, stoking fears over inflationary pressures.
- Bitcoin fell yesterday and seems to have got established below the former key support level at $38,961. However, there are supportive zones close to the current price, so it is not clear there is more immediate downside here.
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally fell last week for the fifth consecutive week.
- It is estimated that 65.1% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 6.5% of the global population is known to have contracted the virus at some stage.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 510.8 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.22%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing only in China, Barbados, Finland, Taiwan, and Trinidad.
- A spate of new coronavirus cases in Beijing, China is being met with mass testing aimed at almost the entire population of the city and panic buying there, following the ongoing hard lockdown in Shanghai, which is still underway, with public disquiet observed over late delivery of food supplies to the quarantined population. The lockdown is causing some supply chain disruption globally, although certain vital factories are beginning to reopen.