- Yesterday saw releases of CPI (inflation) data in the UK and Canada. Annualized inflation in the UK is now running at 9.1%, a new 40-year high, but is at the rate which analysts had been expecting. The Pound fell after the data release. In Canada, CPI data came in higher than expected to give a new higher annualized rate of 6.8% with a month on month increase of 0.6%.
- Global stock markets saw sharp falls yesterday on renewed global growth fears, with the S&P 500 closing well below 4,000 on a fall of approximately 4%. The NASDAQ 100 Index fell by about 5%, and Asian markets are now closing well down on the day. US stock markets are in a long-term bearish trend, so are likely to fall further over the coming days.
- In the Forex market, the Japanese Yen is the weakest currency while the Australian Dollar is the strongest, but this is a short-term movement that may well not persist. The US Dollar seems to have made some kind of peak from which it is retreating.
- Bitcoin/USD has survived a test from above of the strong key support level at $28,607 which continues to hold. This suggests we may now see upwards price movement.
- Yesterday’s release of Australian Unemployment data showed an unemployment rate of 3.9% which had been expected.
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally fell last week for the eighth consecutive week.
- It is estimated that 65.7% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 6.6% of the global population is confirmed to have contracted the virus at some time, although the true number is highly likely to be much larger.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 525 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.20%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be significantly increasing only in Australia, Portugal, South Africa, and Taiwan.