Japan will observe a four-day weekend starting from Thursday
This comes as the Japanese capital reported another 237 new cases in the past day, with the virus trajectory not showing much signs of slowing down. The more worrying part for Japan is that cases are also starting to pick up in other prefectures too:

Stocks on a run once again
Stocks haven’t needed much to hold onto as far as reasons to drive higher and there have been a whole bunch of reasons for the market to eat up into Tuesday that have resulted in another big push.

Forex news from the European trading session – 21 July 2020
Headlines:
Markets:
– AUD leads, EUR lags on the day
– European equities higher; E-minis up 0.7%

NZD/USD buyers are poised in search for a firm move above 0.6600
The kiwi is one of the beneficiaries from the more positive risk mood today, with price action now testing the 0.6600 handle as buyers are looking poised to try and go in search of a firm break above the figure level to fresh highs

Comments by China president Xi Jinping
– Will strive to make up economic losses caused by coronavirus pandemic
– Will strive to achieve good results for economic growth this year
There isn’t much of anything new here from Xi, but this just reaffirms that China will continue to maintain the current set of policies and keep bolstering the

Forex news from the European trading session – 20 July 2020
Headlines:
Markets:
– GBP leads, JPY lags on the day
– European equities mixed; E-minis down 0.2%

FOX News reporter, Chad Pergram, reaffirms the earlier story
Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and House GOP leader, Kevin McCarthy, will be headed to the White House later to discuss the next stimulus bill with Trump and Mnuchin. This adds to the story from earlier in the day .

German chancellor Merkel also says that she is hopeful that an agreement on the recovery fund would be possible by today
Merkel also adds that the framework for an agreement is currently in place after the lengthy period of talks over the last few days. French president Macron also adds that things have advanced and that

Comments by ECB vice president, Luis de Guindos
Well, the thing is while the sharp drop in Q2 isn’t quite the worst-case scenario, it is still bad. The issue now is will the recovery thereafter be as robust as what policymakers and lawmakers expect it to be? That is the more pressing concern in my view

European equities creep a little higher alongside US futures
Risk sentiment has picked up in the last hour, with the DAX now seen up by ~0.6% and trading at the 13,000 level for the first time since 25 February. Meanwhile, US futures have also improved to be down by ~0.1% after observing around ~0.6% losses earlier.