- The price of gold is again making a new 4-month high above $1910 per ounce. This bullish price action suggests that the price is somewhat likely to rise higher still over the coming days.
- The British pound made a 3-year high against the U.S. dollar, and is close to the same against the Japanese yen. If the GBP/USD currency pair closes in New York today above 1.4240 that will indicate the price is likely to rise to still higher prices over the coming days. The U.S. dollar seems to be the weakest currency today.
- Commodities and the commodity currencies (AUD, NZD, and CAD) are generally strong, with WTI Crude Oil very close to making a new 2-year high price above $68.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia released its monthly policy input earlier, maintaining its interest rate at an historically low 0.10% while the statement contained no surprises.
- Today will bring releases of Canadian and Australian GDP data, plus U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI numbers.
- Global stock markets are still broadly bullish, but yesterday’s action was again mixed.
- Cryptocurrencies seem to have bottomed out after falling very sharply last week. Key support areas to watch are $30k for Bitcoin and $2k for Ethereum. These cryptos may be worthwhile buys if they bounce at these levels, but if the levels are fully broken, that will be a very bearish sign. If Bitcoin breaks below $30k it could easily reach $20k quickly. Interestingly, Ethereum seems to be holding up better and looking more bullish than Bitcoin.
- Last week saw a fourth consecutive weekly fall in global new confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, suggesting that the current wave of the pandemic is starting to retreat. The effects of the vaccination programs in the most developed economies are now being felt.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 171.4 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.08%.
- The fastest progression in terms of immunizing a population against the coronavirus in all but the smallest states have been in Israel and Bhutan, which have given at least one shot to 63% of their entire populations, followed by the U.K. at 58% and Canada at 57%. For most of the world, a vaccine still remains distant. However, the pace of vaccination in the European Union, which now has immunized 38% of its population, has picked up significantly. In the U.S., 50% of the population has been vaccinated.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bhutan, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, U.A.E., Venezuela, and Vietnam.
Forex Today: British Pound and Gold Hit Long-Term Highs
Adam Lemon
Gold and the British pound are strong against the U.S. dollar.