- The U.S. dollar is clearly the strongest major currency in the Forex market, while the euro is relatively the weakest. The EUR/USD currency pair hit a new 4-month low yesterday and closed down on the day, which suggests that further downwards movement is likely to happen over the coming days due to the long-term bearish momentum. This is despite data released yesterday which showed that the Eurozone economy is performing better than expected.
- The euro and the Japanese yen look likely to be the weakest major currencies today.
- Crude Oil spiked a little yesterday on the news that the Suez Canal was blocked, but has resumed its gentle sell-off in recent hours.
- The Governor of the Bank of Japan has signaled that the Bank will continue buying ETFs “as needed”, which seems to have weakened the Japanese yen slightly over recent hours.
- The Turkish lira seems to be stabilizing just below 8 to the U.S. dollar after President Erdogan fired the Governor of Turkey’s central bank on Saturday, triggering a dramatic devaluation of the lira in the market.
- With 91% of votes counted, Israeli election results suggest that long-serving PM Netanyahu will find it impossible to build a working majority in Parliament, making it increasingly likely he will be removed from office soon.
- New coronavirus cases are rising globally for the fourth consecutive week, and deaths also increased last week for the first time in months, potentially signifying a rebound in the pandemic where vaccinations are relatively absent. The increase is especially pronounced in Europe.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 125.4 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.20%.
- Brazil is suffering from a strong wave of infections, and is currently accounting for approximately 15% of the entire known global coronavirus daily death toll as fatalities there hit new record highs. The Brazilian health service is severely strained.
- The fastest progression in terms of immunizing a population against the coronavirus in all but the smallest states has been in Israel, which has already administered a first shot of the Pfizer vaccine to 56% of its entire population and a second dose to 50% (which includes more than 90% of over-50s who have either received a shot or recovered from coronavirus). The U.A.E. ranks second, with 75 shots given per 100 people. For most of the world, a vaccine remains distant. Progress remains slow in the hard-hit European Union with only a single member state (Hungary) having yet given more than 20 shots per 100 of its population.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Djibouti, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, and Sweden.
Forex Today: U.S. Dollar Hitting High Against Euro
Adam Lemon
The U.S. dollar remains strong as stocks and other risky assets continue to decline.