- U.S. stock market indices are mostly higher after rallying Friday on new hopes for a faster pace of economic recovery in the U.S. The “old economy” Dow Jones 30 Index hit a new all-time high. The Dow is likely to continue rising higher over the coming days.
- In the Forex market, the U.S. dollar looks to be the strongest currency today, while the Japanese yen is the weakest. The USD/JPY currency pair closed Friday at a new multi-month high, and the price of this pair is likely to rise higher over the coming days.
- Bitcoin bulls have succeeded in pushing the price above the resistance level at $58,426 on Saturday, with the price then going on to make a new all-time high above the round number at $60K. The price has been retracing but is likely to find support at that same level, which it remains above at the time of writing.
- It is likely to be a quiet Forex market today due to it being Monday and there being no scheduled high-impact economic data releases.
- Several countries, including the Netherlands, have halted the AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine over a fear it may cause blood clots. The World Health Organization maintains that the vaccine is safe.
- Global coronavirus deaths have fallen sharply over the past five weeks to reach a level 35% lower than the peak. However, new confirmed cases rose again last week for the third week in a row.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 120.4 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.21%.
- Brazil is suffering from a strong wave of infections, and is currently accounting for more than a fifth of the entire known global coronavirus daily death toll.
- Coronavirus is spreading again in Europe leading to new lockdown measures being imposed in a few countries, notably Italy.
- 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 55% of its entire population and a second dose to 45% (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 66 shots given per 100 people. For most of the world, a vaccine remains distant. Progress remains slow in the hard-hit European Union with not a single member state having yet fully vaccinated even 5% of its population. Denmark and Austria have begun exploring ways of boosting their vaccine provision outside E.U. structures.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Armenia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, South Korea, Lebanon, Mali, Malta, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine.
Forex Today: U.S. Dollar Remains Strong
Adam Lemon
U.S. risk-on sentiment is boosted by passage of new stimulus bill.