Markets have opened with typically low-range price movements for a Monday, without showing clear direction yet. The broader trend is risk-off, with safe haven assets such as the Swiss franc and Japanese yen, while riskier assets such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars and the British pound are weak.Almost all major cryptocurrencies traded strongly lower last Friday, and then Bitcoin suffered a flash crash on Saturday, falling by more than 16% within one hour. All major cryptocurrencies have been consolidating for some hours, but look weak and prone to further falls.
Natural gas has continued to fall strongly to new 3-month lows.The Turkish lira traded at an all-time low against the US dollar on Friday and looks set to retest that high today. The price is rising again now over the short term, and it looks likely to rise higher still over the coming days. However, trading the USD/TRY currency pair can be very problematic for retail Forex traders as spreads and overnight fees are extremely high, while its high volatility can also cause problems.The COT (Commitment of Traders) report show the open interest in long US dollar is at its highest level for more than 2 years, suggesting that the long-term bullish trend in the US dollar is likely to continue.The omicron coronavirus variant is still being researched and monitored, with morbidity remaining unclear. Markets remain prone to very strong risk-off movement if forthcoming news about the potency of the omicron variant is negative.The omicron variant is confirmed to be present in 40 countries. There are confirmations of community spread. Several countries (most recently Japan) have either entirely closed their borders to non-citizens, while the US and the EU and other countries have imposed a ban on travel from South Africa and other African nations.Friday’s US Non-Farm Payrolls data showed that the US created a net new 210k jobs, much lower than the 553k which had been the consensus forecast. The unemployment rate fell from 4.5% to 4.2%, a historically relatively low level, showing a tight labor market. The data seemed to have no real effect on the market.Last week saw the seventh consecutive global weekly rise in new confirmed coronavirus cases after two months in which cases fell steadily.It is estimated that 55% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 266.1 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.98%.The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Andorra, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mali, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Sweden, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad, the UK, and the USA.
Natural gas has continued to fall strongly to new 3-month lows.The Turkish lira traded at an all-time low against the US dollar on Friday and looks set to retest that high today. The price is rising again now over the short term, and it looks likely to rise higher still over the coming days. However, trading the USD/TRY currency pair can be very problematic for retail Forex traders as spreads and overnight fees are extremely high, while its high volatility can also cause problems.The COT (Commitment of Traders) report show the open interest in long US dollar is at its highest level for more than 2 years, suggesting that the long-term bullish trend in the US dollar is likely to continue.The omicron coronavirus variant is still being researched and monitored, with morbidity remaining unclear. Markets remain prone to very strong risk-off movement if forthcoming news about the potency of the omicron variant is negative.The omicron variant is confirmed to be present in 40 countries. There are confirmations of community spread. Several countries (most recently Japan) have either entirely closed their borders to non-citizens, while the US and the EU and other countries have imposed a ban on travel from South Africa and other African nations.Friday’s US Non-Farm Payrolls data showed that the US created a net new 210k jobs, much lower than the 553k which had been the consensus forecast. The unemployment rate fell from 4.5% to 4.2%, a historically relatively low level, showing a tight labor market. The data seemed to have no real effect on the market.Last week saw the seventh consecutive global weekly rise in new confirmed coronavirus cases after two months in which cases fell steadily.It is estimated that 55% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 266.1 million with an average case fatality rate of 1.98%.The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Andorra, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mali, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Poland, San Marino, Slovakia, Sweden, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Trinidad, the UK, and the USA.