• Bitcoin has continued to rise to $64k, just a shade under its all-time high made last April, as the first ever Bitcoin ETF was launched. The ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) ended its first day of trading higher by 2.59%. The two leading cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are performing strongly. Bitcoin bulls look to be ready to push the price up to challenge $65k, which may well be reached today. We are likely to see higher prices in Bitcoin over the coming days (BITCOMP).

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• The USD/JPY currency pair hit a new 3.5-year high, breaking above 2018’s record, and looks likely to rise to still higher prices over the coming days. If the 115.00 area is hit we may well see a pause or reversal there. The rise is driven partly by increasing US treasury yields, with the 10-year yield yesterday hitting a 5-month high at 1.65% (FXY).

• Crude Oil failed to make a new multi-year high price yesterday just below $84 near the key resistance level at $84.07 before dipping. The short-term price action is suggesting that a deeper bearish retracement looks likely to happen now. However, there is a strong long-term bullish trend, so it is still likely that we will see prices continue to rise again after the retracement plays out (BNO).

• Stock markets globally are continuing to advance, with the rally in the S&P 500 especially notable: the index is trading barely 30 points below its all-time high made a few weeks ago (SPY).

• In the Forex market, the Australian dollar is the strongest currency right now while the Japanese yen is the weakest major currency. The bullishness in AUD/JPY is a good barometer of strong risk-on sentiment in global markets.

• The USD/TRY currency pair is continuing to advance strongly to new record highs every day. There are rumors that Turkey will soon be grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force.

• There will be releases of British and Canadian inflation data today. The British number especially will be closely watched.

• Last week saw the eighth consecutive weekly fall in global new confirmed coronavirus cases.

• It is estimated that 47.8% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.

• Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 242.3 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.03%.

• The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Armenia, Australia, Barbados, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the Ukraine.