- Australian GDP data shows the economy is growing at an annualized rate of 3.2%, coming in at a quarterly increase of 0.8%, higher than the 0.6% which was the consensus forecast. The news has had little impact upon the Australian Dollar.
- In the Forex market, the US Dollar is continuing its modest advance following yesterday’s rise. The New Zealand Dollar and the Japanese Yen are currently the weakest major currencies.
- Major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin/USD, rose firmly yesterday, but Bitcoin is showing signs of topping out with a swing high near $32k.
- Agricultural commodities weakened yesterday, but energies are still relatively firm.
- Stock markets remain choppy and mixed.
- The Bank of Canada will release its Overnight Rate and Rate Statement today. It is expected to hike rates by 0.50%.
- There are two important US data releases due today: ISM Manufacturing PMI and JOLTS Job Openings.
- Daily new coronavirus cases globally fell last week, continuing a long-term trend.
- It is estimated that 65.8% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 6.7% 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 532.8 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.18%.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be significantly increasing only in the Belize, Chile, Panama, and Taiwan.