- The U.S. Senate has begun to push back against President Biden’s proposed huge stimulus package. It is now looking more likely that it will not be passed until mid-March at the earliest. This development has disappointed global stock markets, not only in the U.S., with most major indices selling off over recent hours.
- In the Forex market, the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar are the strongest currencies. The Australian dollar and the British pound are clearly the weakest major currencies, although this is against the dominant long-term trends.
- The E.U. has threatened to curb vaccine exports by AstraZeneca as the company is reportedly cutting deliveries of its coronavirus vaccine to E.U. 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 yesterday its vaccine should be effective against it. These fears are triggering a move towards further travel and quarantine restrictions in several nations.
- Data from a study of 120,000 people who have had the second shot of the Pfizer vaccine in Israel suggest it is even more than 95% effective at preventing symptomatic coronavirus. As approximately half of Israel’s cases are believed to be caused by the British mutation, it seems the vaccine is very effective against it.
- There will be a release of U.S. CB Consumer Confidence data today.
- 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 100.2 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.14%.
- 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 28% of its entire population (including almost 80% of the over-60s) and a second dose to 12%. The U.A.E. ranks second, having now given 26 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, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Montenegro, Nigeria, Portugal, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the U.A.E.