Total cases now at 51
Optimism that New Zealand can contain its covid outbreak is fading after details of 21 new cases were reported.
PM Jacinda Ardern said it was „very likely“ the nationwide lockdown would be extended beyond Tuesday.

Forex news for North American trading on August 20, 2021
Back on August 11, Fed’s Kaplan said „he was in favor of announcing a plan to taper at the Sept meeting and start tapering in October“.  

The summit was to be held face-to-face
The Jackson Hole Summit will be held virtually instead of face-to-face.  This according to the Kansas City Fed who stages the event annually.  The risk of Covid is leading to the decision.  The scheduled three day event will now be all conducted on August 27th. 

Risk trades are still being pressured towards the end of the week
That follows the more defensive tones seen in US futures so far on the day as well. S&P 500 futures are down 0.4%, Nasdaq futures down 0.3%, Dow futures down 0.4%.

USD/CAD up another 0.7% on the day to 1.2921
Commodity currencies are continuing to be pressured this week and there is little reprieve now across the board when you look at the charts.

Forex news from the European trading session – 19 August 2021
Headlines:
Markets:
– JPY leads, AUD lags on the day
– European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.8%

Early signs of a reopening in global air travel?
Traveling from Asia to Europe or vice versa these days is an extremely rare event unless there is a certain need to do so, as most air travel has been restricted.

Australian treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, remarks
Given how Australia has been very strict with lockdown measures, even a 70% vaccination rate may not necessarily rule out a spread of infections – however minimal it may be.

Australian treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, remarks
That’s a striking remark on how the future looks like for the Australian economy, as Frydenberg says that there should be „no expectation“ by states/territories should for emergency COVID-19 support payments for employees affected by lockdowns once the country gets to 70% vaccination rate.

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