Pfizer remarks in updated data on its COVID-19 vaccine
The headline will make for comfortable reading amid fears that the virus variants will throw a wrench in the works on the global recovery. That said, the trial sample size in South Africa is rather small i.e. 800 participants only.

Forex news from the European trading session – 31 March 2021
Headlines:
Markets:
– CAD leads, JPY lags on the day
– European equities mixed, S&P 500 futures up 0.1%

France contemplates returning to a national lockdown
This could be a prelude of later in the day. With Germany also having extended its lockdown past Easter (and likely to continue further), Q2 is looking very much like a return to Q4 for Europe.

Latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week ending 26 March 2021
–  -2.5%
– Market index 730.8 vs 747.0 prior
– Purchase index 297.3 vs 301.9 prior

It has been a quiet session for the most part in Europe so far
Nasdaq futures are up 0.4%, while S&P 500 futures are flat and Dow futures are seen down 0.1%. European equities are little changed after a mildly softer open with the DAX holding just above 15,000 following its record close yesterday.

The White House releases a statement ahead of Biden’s speech later today
But still, it won’t be music to the ears of big corporates and as the debate ensues in Congress, expect the whispers and musings to have an impact on market sentiment.

Latest data released by Destatis – 30 March 2021
That said, don’t expect the ECB to read too much into the jump here as it is also impacted by the VAT changes and also base effect adjustments from last year.

Forex news from the European trading session – 30 March 2021
Headlines:
Markets:
– USD leads, JPY lags on the day
– European equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.2%

The good news is that the vaccine rollout is starting to gather pace
While things got off to a slow start, France is starting to see some improvement in the vaccine rollout. The country aims to have at least 10 million people vaccinated by mid-April and looks set to exceed that – at least in terms

Bitcoin climbs to $59,000 on the headlines
PayPal is to reveal that customers who hold Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin cash, and Litecoin in PayPal digital wallets will be able to convert their holdings into fiat currencies at checkouts in order to make purchases online. More from Reuters .