Latest data released by Ifo – 18 December 2020
- Prior 90.7
- Expectations 92.8 vs 92.5 expected
- Prior 91.5
- Current assessment 91.3 vs 89.0 expected
- Prior 90.0
Slight delay in the release by the source.
Archives of “December 2020” month
rssPfizer has applied for approval of its COVID-19 vaccine in Japan
The Pfizer / BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is already being distributed in the US and UK, the firm applying in Japan today.
The Japanese government has already agreed with Pfizer to receive a supply of 120 million vaccine doses (the two-course vaccine means that’s enough for 60 million people, which is about half of Japan’s population).
Japan is expected to make the vaccine available at no charge.
Hedge Fund leverage now the highest level on record. (Literally everyone is now in the pool)
US nuclear weapons agency breached in hack on US government – report
Hackers access nuclear agency and state governments
Politico reports that the latest hack of the US government — which is being blamed on Russia — accessed at least a half a dozen US agencies via the software company SolarWinds.
The Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, have evidence that hackers accessed their networks as part of an extensive espionage operation that has affected at least half a dozen federal agencies, officials directly familiar with the matter said.
I don’t see any market impacts for this at the moment but it’s worth monitoring.
NASDAQ and S&P close at record highs
S&P post 31st record close of the year
US major indices all closed higher. Some of the highlights for the day include:
- S&P, NASDAQ, Russell 2000 close at record highs
- NASDAQ on track for the best year since 2009
- Russell 2000 on pace for the 7th straight weekly gain
- S&P higher for the 3rd straight day
- NASDAQ higher for the 4th consecutive day
- S&P post 31st record close of the year
The final numbers are showing:
- S&P index rose 21.31 points or 0.58% to 3722.48
- NASDAQ index rose 106.55 points or 0.84% to 12764.74
- Dow rose 148.83 points or 0.49% to 30303.32
Some of the oversize winners today included
- Rite Aid, +17.71%
- GoodRX, +7.47%
- Airbnb, +6.53%
- Chewy, +6.37%
- Corsair, +6.19%
- Tesla, +5.33%
- Palantir, +4.94%
- Nio, +3.03%
- Intuit, +3.01%
- Crowdstrike, +2.98%
- Ross Stores, +2.83%
- Alcoa, +2.78%
- J&J, +2.69%
some losers today included:
- Worthington industries, -3.67%
- Doordash, -2.44%
- AT&T, -2.25%
- Boeing, -2.07%
- Nucor, -1.79%
- Lam research, -1.45%
- Snowflake, -1.51%
- General Dynamics, -1.16%
- US steel, -1.01%
- Micron, -1.0%
- Alphabet, -0.96%
- Intel, -0.92%
- J.P. Morgan, -0.85%
- FireEye, -0.76%
- Exxon Mobil, -0.7%
Thought For A Day
Brexit: The EU27 member states head to Brussels
Friday meeting to discuss Brexit developments
The EU 27 member states enjoys will be heading to Brussels to get a Brexit update at 830 GMT on Friday. This according to EU diplomats.
There are some mixed messages, but there is also signs of progress in negotiations. EU’s Barnier said earlier that a deal is ‘possible’ by Friday. In contrast not long after Barnier’s comment, an EU diplomat said “A deal is unlikely by Friday”.
Gold hits one-month high with US stimulus deal in sight
Gold higher in third day of gains
Gold is back in a big way.
The selling in late November has now been erased with gold trading $30 higher to $1895. That’s the best level since November 16.
The next level to watch is the $1900 figure, which also coincides with the Nov 16 intraday high. The daily chart shows a minor inverted head-and-shoulders pattern as he head into the bullish seasonals of Jan-Feb.
To really get gold back on track, it it will need to take out the November high of $1965 to halt the six-month period of lower highs.
Trump: Stimulus talks looking very good
Comment from the President
The US dollar continues to decline today and gold loves the talk of stimulus.
SNB leaves policy rate unchanged at -0.75%
SNB announces its latest monetary policy decision – 17 December 2020
- Prior -0.75%
- Sight deposit interest rate unchanged at -0.75%
- Swiss franc is highly valued
- Will remain active in FX market as necessary
- Expansionary policy provides favourable financing conditions
- Also counters upward pressure on Swiss franc
- Sees inflation this year at -0.7%, 2021 at 0.0%, 2022 at +0.2%
- Assumption is there will not be significant easing on virus measures until spring
- Recovery thus remains incomplete
- Global economy is still subject to high uncertainty
- Full statement
No change to the language on the franc or on intervention, and a slight downgrade to its inflation outlook for this year and next. That’s about it from the SNB, in what is a rather non-event really as they reaffirm a similar stance to September.