• Major U.S. stock market index S&P 500’s futures have finally broken above the psychological level at 4250 to trade at new all-time high prices during the Asian session. This suggests we will be likely to see still higher prices this week, especially once we see a daily (New York) close above the big round number at 4250 (SPY, SPX). Global stock markets are generally looking mostly bullish too, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index up today by more than 1%.

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• Bitcoin (BITCOMP) rose strongly yesterday to a new 3-week high above $40k, after briefly trading some days ago at a 2-week low near the pivotal $30k zone. Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies are also rising with healthy momentum.
• WTI Crude Oil advanced again to make a new high yesterday above $71. This strong rise to new 2.5-year high prices is indicative of relatively strong global demand and economic growth (OIL, BNO).
• Precious metals, especially gold, fell strongly again yesterday (GLD).
• The Forex market is seeing the euro as the strongest major currency right now, with the Japanese yen clearly the weakest.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia released its recent monetary policy meeting minutes, which showed the bank feels it is too early to end its asset purchase program. This had little effect on the value of the Australian dollar (FXA).
• Today will see releases of U.S. retail sales and PPI data.
• Last week saw a sixth consecutive weekly fall in global new confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, suggesting that the current wave of the pandemic is starting to retreat. The effects of the vaccination programs in the most developed economies are now being felt.
• It is estimated that 6.2% of the world’s population has been fully inoculated against the novel coronavirus.
• Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 176.7 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.16%.
• The fastest progression in terms of immunizing a population against the coronavirus in all but the smallest states have been in Canada and Kuwait, which have given at least one shot to 65% of their respective populations, followed by Bermuda, Israel, Iceland and Bhutan at 63%. For most of the world, a vaccine still remains distant. However, the pace of vaccination in the European Union, which now has immunized 44% of its population, has picked up significantly. In the U.S., 52% of the population has been vaccinated.
• The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cuba, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Kuwait (despite its very high level of vaccination), Mongolia, Oman, Panama, Russia, South Africa, Tunisia, the U.A.E. (despite its very high level of vaccination), and Vietnam.
• Although the U.K. has one of the world’s highest proportion of vaccinated people, it is seeing a sharp rise in the number of new coronavirus cases. The U.K. government has delayed plans to reduce virus restrictions by one month. It is believed the Delta (Indian) variant accounts for the vast majority of new cases in the U.K. now.