Latest data released by Markit/CIPS – 22 October 2021
The manufacturing reading remains flattered by the elevated supplier delivery times though, in which the index is still extremely subdued (but oppositely reflected in the overall PMI index) due to supply and capacity constraints in general.

Forex news from the European trading session – 21 October 2021
Headlines:
Markets:
– JPY leads, NZD lags on the day
– European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%

Softer tones prevail throughout European morning trade
If anything, this just looks more like a light pullback after the gains over the past week. As mentioned earlier, it could be some profit-taking as US indices near all-time highs. But don’t count out dip buyers before the end of the day. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Reuters reports, citing sources familiar with the matter
The report says that the BOJ is discussing phasing out a COVID-19 loan programme, which is due to expire in March next year, if infections in the country continue to decline and as the economy picks itself back up from the depths of the pandemic.

Latest data released by CBI – 21 October 2021
From higher material costs to labour shortages, manufacturers continue to face a number of serious global supply challenges hampering their ability to meet strong demand.
Meanwhile, the business optimism index slumped from 27 in July to 2 in October – its lowest since January when the UK re-entered

Russia recorded a record number of 34,073 cases and 1,028 deaths related to COVID-19 on Wednesday
While there are many parts of the world starting to flip the page on the pandemic, not everywhere is seeing a similar recovery story unfortunately.

Forex news from the European trading session – 20 October 2021
Headlines:
Markets:
– NZD leads, GBP lags on the day
– European equities mildly higher; S&P 500 futures flat

Latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week ending 15 October 2021
–  +0.2%
– Market index 643.0 vs 686.1 prior
– Purchase index 266.2 vs 279.8 prior

AUD/JPY is knocking on the door of the highs for the year
The pair hit a high if 85.93 earlier today, which is the highest since February 2018 but is seen now trading around 85.60-70 levels in European trading.

Lagarde responds to Weidmann’s resignation
Well, at least that is one less tough figure to deal with for Lagarde but it’s always good to have a strong opinion in a collective board such as the ECB. In any case, one can still expect the next German stepping up to have similar views to Weidmann.