- The USD is firm and mostly gaining, and seems to be moving more decisively back in the direction of a bullish long-term trend.
- The Canadian dollar is the strongest major currency, while the Japanese yen and the euro appear to be the weakest.
- Stock markets are mixed and mostly off recent highs.
- The cryptocurrency Ethereum hit a new all-time high yesterday after bouncing at the support level of $3202.50.
- Crude Oil is continuing to rise slowly, with WTI trading above the key support at $65, not far from the 2-year high just below $68.
- The ADP non-farm employment change forecast yesterday came in slightly below expectations at 742k net new jobs compared to the consensus forecast of 872k.
- Today brings the Bank of England’s monthly monetary policy release, U.S. unemployment claims data, and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Monetary Policy Statement.
- The COVID situation is especially bad in India, which a few days ago became the first country to register more than 400,000 new cases in a day. India has also just seen its highest number of daily coronavirus deaths yet at almost 4,000. The situation putting a severe strain on the Indian health care system due to a shortage of oxygen. Many analysts believe the death toll in India is significantly underestimated.
- It appears that after seven weeks of steady increases in global new coronavirus cases and deaths, we are finally seeing the pace of both begin to slow down this week.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 155.8 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.09%.
- The fastest progression in terms of immunizing a population against the coronavirus in all but the smallest states has been in Israel, which has given at least one shot to 63% of its entire population followed by the U.A.E. and the U.K. at 51%. For most of the world, a vaccine remains distant. However, the pace of vaccination has finally begun to significantly speed up in the European Union, which now has immunized 26% of its population.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bolivia, Cambodia, Egypt, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, and Uzbekistan.
Forex Today: Greenback & Loonie Remain Strong
Adam Lemon
The USD and CAD are the strongest major currencies, while the euro and yen are weak.