- The major U.S. stock index, the S&P 500, yesterday closed again at a new all-time high. The Index is now up by 56% from its March low, and is currently trading off-hours well above 3440. The U.S. stock market has never fallen and recovered so far, so quickly, as it has in 2020. New all-time highs tend to represent good buying opportunities in stocks.
- The NASDAQ 100 technology index has been making new record highs since June, and is up by 73% from its March low.
- The U.S. Dollar has stabilized after selling off in line with the long-term bearish trend established over recent weeks following last month’s “death cross” in the USD Index.
- Precious metals, especially Silver, look weak.
- The Forex market is becoming less active, as typically happens in August. The Canadian Dollar looks relatively weak but most currencies are stable.
- Coronavirus global death tolls are showing signs of starting to fall, with deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean at 43% of the global daily total, well exceeding those in both the U.S.A. (18%) and Europe (approx. 5%) which shows that the epicenter of the pandemic is well established in Latin America. Deaths in the U.S.A. have stabilized over the past three weeks, and the number of new cases daily has fallen quite strongly.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases stand at over 23.6 million with an average case fatality rate of 3.45%. The number of daily new cases has still not exceeded the all-time high made on 31st July. Global mortality over recent weeks is lower than it was during the first peak in April.
- Brazil and the U.S.A. are the countries with the highest numbers of new daily coronavirus deaths.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Albania, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, North Macedonia, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Sudan, Switzerland, Trinidad, Tunisia, U.A.E., Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.