• Last week’s decline in risk sentiment seems to be continuing with nothing due today likely to change it. The S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ 100 Index are both currently trading lower than their respective Friday closes, as has the European DAX. However, major Asian indices such as the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index have gained today.

Pixabay

• In the Forex market so far today, the Euro is the weakest major currency, while the Australian Dollar is the strongest. However, we see longer-term strength in the US Dollar which is likely to reassert itself later today.
• There is a total absence of any high-impact data releases scheduled in the market today, so it is likely to be a relatively quiet Monday session today.
• Daily new coronavirus cases globally dropped last week for the fifth consecutive week.
• It is estimated that 67.4% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination, while approximately 7.6% 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 601.1 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.08%.  
• The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be most significantly increasing in South Korea, The Marshall Islands, Moldova, and Tonga.  

More By This Author:

Pairs In Focus This Week – GBP/USD, NZD/USD, Natural Gas - Sunday, Aug. 21
EUR/USD Forex Signal: Euro Is Set To Hit Parity This Week
Risk Sentiment Sours On FOMC Minutes; Natural Gas Hits Record High; UK Inflation Exceeds 10%