- Following yesterday’s first fall in annualized Canadian CPI data seen in a year, the risk-on rally continues with stock markets rising in much of the world. The S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ 100 Index both rose yesterday to close at new 3-month highs. The Japanese Nikkei 225 Index is up by more than 1% today and very close to making a new high for 2022, while several European indices are making new 2-month highs. Asian markets have been boosted by hopes of more Chinese government monetary stimulus.
- Canadian CPI (inflation) data released yesterday showed only a 0.1% month on month increase as expected, producing the first drop in the annualized rate seen in a year, to 7.6%. This gives analysts further hope that global inflation may have peaked.
- The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has hiked its Official Cash Rate by 0.50% to 3.00%, which is the highest interest rate of any major currency.
- The Forex market saw the US Dollar consolidate yesterday, and it is now beginning to sell off slowly. The Canadian Dollar and the British Pound look relatively strong.
- There will be releases today of:
- US FOMC Meeting Minutes
- US Retail Sales data
- Australian Unemployment data
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally dropped last week for the fourth consecutive week.
- It is estimated that 67.4% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 7.6% of the global population is confirmed to have contracted the virus at some time, although the true number is highly likely to be much larger.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 597.1 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.08%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be most significantly increasing in Chile, South Korea, The Marshall Islands, Serbia, Trinidad, and Tonga.