WTI Crude Oil briefly traded above $79 level per barrel at a 6-year high as bullish momentum in energies continues. There is a possibility of further rises over the coming days, with trend followers very interested in buying crude oil right now.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand earlier announced a rate hike, becoming one of the very few central banks to raise its interest rate in recent years. The RBNZ also announced its QE program would be tapered now and in the near term depending upon the medium-term outlook for inflation and unemployment. Despite this more hawkish tilt, the NZD has fallen in value over recent hours.
In the Forex market, the USD is the strongest major currency, while the Japanese yen is the weakest. The USD/JPY currency pair is rising towards its recent long-term high near 112.00. The rise in the US dollar is being given a tailwind by the US debt ceiling crisis and a perception that the Federal Reserve has made a shift towards a more hawkish policy of earlier QE tapering and an earlier hike in the interest rate.
Global stock markets are mostly lower today, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index down by more than 1.7%.
Today will see releases of the US ADP non-farm employment change and US crude oil inventories. Any surprises here could move the value of the USD.
Thursday is a public holiday in China.
Last week saw the sixth consecutive weekly fall in global new confirmed coronavirus cases after over 2 months of weekly rises.
It is estimated that 45.8% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 236.6 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.04%.
The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Armenia, Australia, Belarus, Belize, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, and the Ukraine.