- Markets are quiet and directionless ahead of today’s U.S. Federal Reserve minutes and press conference which will be keenly watched by the markets. The event will be likely to produce some direction.
- U.S. consumer confidence data came in yesterday slightly higher than had been expected, while Australian inflation is at 0.9%, higher than the 0.7% than had been expected.
- Global stock markets are still broadly bullish but are in consolidative mode.
- In the Forex market, the Australian dollar and the British pound are clearly the strongest major currencies, while the U.S. dollar is the weakest major currency.
- AstraZeneca has fired back at the European Union over its recent threats regarding the slow vaccine supply, complaining that the E.U. was late to complete the deal for supply compared to nations such as the U.K. which were quicker. The E.U.’s vaccination program is falling well behind those of other western nations.
- Concerns over new coronavirus mutations are mounting, as several more variants seem to have developed which are more infectious and perhaps lethal too, and it is not known whether some of them may have resistance to the first generation of vaccines which are currently being rolled out. There is particular concern over the South African variant, although Moderna announced Monday that its vaccine should be effective against it. These fears are triggering a move towards further travel and quarantine restrictions in several nations.
- Global coronavirus deaths have increased dramatically since early October to reach a level more than twice as high the peak last April.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 100.8 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.15%.
- The fastest progression in terms of immunizing a population against the coronavirus has been in Israel, which has already administered a first shot of the Pfizer vaccine to 30% of its entire population (including about 75% of the over-60s) and a second dose to 15%. The U.A.E. ranks second, having now given 27 vaccines per 100 of its population. For most of the world, a vaccine remains distant: only 11 countries have vaccinated more than 3% of their population so far. Progress remains slow in the hard-hit European Union.
- Last week saw daily coronavirus deaths hit a new global peak, but total new cases are down from the preceding week.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Albania, Bahrain, Barbados, Cameroon, Chile, Cuba, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Montenegro, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the U.A.E.