- Asian equity markets have begun the week negatively, with both the HSI and the Nikkei 225 Index ending the day lower than their weekly opens. There is a general atmosphere of risk-off sentiment and fear of impending recession.
- The Japanese Yen has strengthened upon a rumor that the Bank of Japan’s mandate will be changed to give flexibility over the current 2% inflation target, which is requiring an ultra-dovish monetary policy. Although the rumours are currently being denied, if they turn out to be true it would likely cause a more hawkish pivot from the BoJ which would almost certainly boost the value of the Yen further. The USD/JPY currency pair has fallen, touching the key support level at ¥135.79 earlier.
- The Bank of Japan will release its Policy Rate, its Monetary Policy Statement, and Meeting Minutes later in Tuesday’s Tokyo session.
- Daily new global coronavirus cases rose last week for the fifth consecutive week.
- It is estimated that 68.7% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 657.8 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.01%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be significantly increasing only in Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mongolia, and New Zealand.