- The Forex market is at the center of attention as the USD/JPY currency pair powers to a new 20-year high. The Japanese Yen is weak as the Bank of Japan has signaled its determination to persist with a unique policy of strong monetary easing as it attempts to drive Japanese inflation up to reach its target of 2%, while almost all other major central banks are tightening monetary policy to combat overly high inflation rates. The USD is stronger on rising yields, with the 5 and 10-year yields exceeding 3% for the first time since May. These factors are producing a very strong bullish breakout in the USD/JPY currency pair, with strong momentum likely to continue over the coming days.
- Other currencies apart from the Yen are also falling against the US Dollar, which is clearly the strongest major currency.
- Major cryptocurrencies are falling again, with Ethereum looking especially prone to a major technical bearish breakdown.
- Energy commodities, especially Crude Oil and Natural Gas, are rising firmly.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hike its interest rate by 0.25% today, to a new rate of 0.60%.
- Global stock markets have been mixed, but are mostly bearish.
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally fell last week, continuing a long-term trend.
- It is estimated that 65.7% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 6.8% 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 535.9 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.18%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be significantly increasing only in Brazil, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Chile.