- Global stock markets, especially the S&P 500 Index, rose strongly yesterday on better than expected U.S. Manufacturing data, ahead of today’s presidential election vote in the U.S.A.
- Voting is underway in the U.S. presidential election, with the latest opinion polls showing Biden narrowly ahead (by 2.6%) in the swing states which determine the result, but with Trump gaining in recent days. Betting markets are giving Biden a 64% of winning, while our panel of U.S. analysts expects a Trump victory. Due to the high level of mailed votes, it may take several days before a result becomes clear, which may create volatility in the markets if this is coupled with unrest.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its interest rate from 0.25% to an all-time low of 0.10% and expanded its bond purchasing program. The value of the Australian Dollar changed little as the market was expecting this move.
- There will be a release of New Zealand employment data shortly after the New York close today.
- WTI Crude Oil rose firmly yesterday on news that talks are underway involving OPEC on delaying output hikes.
- Forex markets are quiet with no clear winners or losers, although the U.S. Dollar remains relatively strong.
- The Turkish Lira continues to fall to new all-time lows.
- Last Friday saw 573,800 confirmed new coronavirus cases diagnosed worldwide – a record high. Recent days have seen over 200,000 new cases confirmed daily in Europe alone. England has become the latest European nation to announce a new multi-week nationwide lockdown as an attempt to stem the tide of cases.
- Coronavirus daily global death tolls have begun to rise sharply in recent days, with deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean continuing to fall, while the U.S.A. accounts for about 20% of the global total, and Europe approximately 30%.
- The European Union is now seeing more new coronavirus cases and deaths than any other area, with a short-term average of over 220,000 new cases daily. The death rate there is beginning to strongly exceed that in the U.S.A. New cases and deaths are also rising strongly in the U.K.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases stand at over 46.8 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.57%.
- India has more than 8.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases, more than any other nation except the U.S.A. which has confirmed more than 9.2 million cases. The U.S.A. is the single country with the highest daily death toll, reporting more than 500 deaths yesterday, although the Eurozone is now exceeding that number overall.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, U.S.A., Ukraine, the Uruguay and the U.K.
Forex Today: Stocks Rally on U.S. Data
Adam Lemon
Markets will be watching early U.S. vote results on whether speedy result will be reached.