- US stock markets dropped quite firmly yesterday as fears increase that the Federal Reserve will quicken its pace in tightening monetary policy over the coming months, with many analysts now expecting 4 rate hikes this year instead of the widely anticipated 3. However, the Asian session saw most global stock markets rise a little.
- In the Forex market, the Australian dollar is the strongest major currency, while the New Zealand dollar is the weakest. This is unlikely to last for long.
- Cryptocurrencies may be due for a significant breakdown, as risk sentiment sours. Bitcoin is looking more likely to break below key support at $40k simultaneously with Ethereum breaking below key support at $3k.
- Some commodities are breaking to new long-term highs, notably WTI Crude Oil and Cotton, with Corn also threatening to make a breakout. WTI Crude Oil has retreated from its high.
- British CPI (inflation) data released yesterday exceeded expectations, with annualized inflation now at 5.4% compared to the 5.2% which had been expected.
- Canadian CPI (inflation) data released yesterday met expectations precisely showing a month on month deflation of 0.1%.
- Australian unemployment data came in far better than expected, with the unemployment rate falling from 4.6% to 4.2%, when a fall to only 4.5% had been expected. This has boosted the value of the Australian dollar.
- Daily new coronavirus cases soared to a new global record yesterday, with more than 3.5 million new cases recorded for the first time.
- Data suggests that the globally rampant omicron coronavirus variant, while considerably more infectious, has notably milder effects than previous coronavirus strains, with an estimated 70% reduction in the probability of hospitalization. This is potentially very good news for both health and economy. Pfizer have announced they plan to have an omicron-specific vaccine ready in March.
- It is estimated that 60.1% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 339.5 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.64%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, the UAE, Ukraine, Uruguay, Tunisia, Venezuela, and Uzbekistan.
Forex Today: US Stocks Fall Harder on Accelerated Tightening
Adam Lemon
US stocks dropped firmly yesterday on fears the Fed will accelerate the pace of tightening monetary policy.