At the highs this month, the S&P 500 has doubled in value from the depths of the pandemic in March last year
An interesting chart put out by Bloomberg shows that the S&P 500 might be headed towards a deeper correction some time in the future, after having gained by double its value since bottoming out

Not a whole lot of action to kick start the day
European indices are easing a little after a steadier start to the session, down around 0.1% to 0.3% across the board. US futures have also given up slight gains, with S&P 500 futures marked lower now by 0.1% as the risk mood keeps more tepid.

Latest data released by Eurostat – 18 August 2021
The preliminary report can be found . No change to the initial estimates as euro area annual headline inflation keeps above the 2% target of the ECB.

GBP/USD down 0.4% to below 1.3800 on the day
The only thing I can really point towards is a technical move with GBP/USD keeping lower after failing to breach its 200-hour moving average at around 1.3867 yesterday, and also with GBP/JPY breaking below the 3 August support at 151.17.

As confirmed by Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga
The existing measures cover Tokyo and five other prefectures (Osaka, Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa, and Okinawa) with an expansion to seven other prefectures that were previously under a quasi-state of emergency – that being Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka.

Forex news from the European trading session – 16 August 2021
Headlines:
Markets:
– JPY leads, AUD lags on the day
– European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%

Remarks via state media
The final remark on RRR cuts isn’t their usual one, so I wouldn’t say that this confirms that another RRR cut is coming. That said, it is something to be wary of in case.

Risk tones continue to stay on the defensive
US futures looked to have calmed down a little mid-way through European morning trade but are now pulling back lower again as we’re about 30 mins from London midday.

NHK reports on the matter
This has been an ongoing story since the weekend, with NHK also adding that Japan is to expand the state of emergency measures to 7 additional prefectures as well. A snapshot of the virus situation in Japan:

A summary of recent opinions at the Fed by the Wall St Journal
The headline seems to suggest that this is a fresh headline but when viewing the article, it appears to be more of a collective summary of what Fed policymakers have been advocating for over the past few weeks. Some recent quotes highlighted: