Boom, bust and echo

Boom, bust and echo

The world celebrated as the UK delta covid cases looked to form a v-shaped top and quickly sag but the picture is growing more complicated, just as kids head back to school.

The seven-day average of cases is now the highest it's been since late July and daily cases at 41,192 are the second-highest since July 20. They compare to 32,181 reported last Monday, though holiday effects may be in play. The weekly pattern is for cases to peak on Friday and trough on Tuesdays, so the worst is like to come Friday.

In terms of the market, it's not a factor at the moment. There are no new restrictions on the immediate horizon and it appears to be business as usual. A big reason why is that hospitalizations have remained far below earlier peaks.

UK hospitalizations

Cable today is the laggard in the G10 FX space. Today's construction PMI was soft and all of Friday's gain has been erased. Overall though, the moves have been moderate.

GBPUSD daily chart