• Stock markets are rising around the world after studies on omicron patients in South Africa and the UK suggest the variant, while considerably more infectious, has notably milder effects than previous coronavirus strains, with an estimated 30% to 70% reduction in the probability of hospitalization. This is potentially very good news for both health and economy, so stock markets and other risky assets are rising firmly. The S&P 500 Index closed Friday at an all-time high weekly closing price, and the index remains quiet but bullish in today’s Asian session trading.

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• In the Forex market’s quiet Asian session, we are seeing a strong Australian dollar, and continued weakness in the Japanese yen. Ranges are relatively small but it seems clear that last week’s dominant risk-on paradigm continues to dominate the market (FXA, FXY).
• The Turkish Lira continues to strengthen following the Turkish government’s announced of emergency measures to support the Turkish Lira, which gives an effective guarantee against any depreciation in Lira savings should the currency’s decline against major currencies exceed the Lira’s rate of interest. The USD/TRY currency pair fell as low as 10.76 earlier today,  a decline of more than 38% from a record peak made last week. There may be a short-term opportunity to trade here as it remains unclear how much impact the rescue package will have over the longer-term, but Forex brokers are imposing such high spreads (commonly more than 2%) and overnight swap rates that trading the Turkish Lira with a retail Forex broker is probably not be worth the risk.
• Markets will be extremely slow until today’s New York open as it is a public holiday in the UK today and tomorrow. It is also a holiday today in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Last week saw the highest number of new confirmed coronavirus cases recorded globally since the start of the pandemic a little over two years ago.
• It is estimated that 57.4% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.
• Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 280.3 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.93%.
• The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Argentina, Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malta, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the UAE, the USA, and the UK.