In the December 2020 edition of the Market Update:
- Joe Biden is the projected winner of the US presidential election, with the passing of the ‘safe harbour’ deadline making it hard for legal challenges to change the outcome.
- Globally there were over 60 million confirmed Covid-19 cases at the start of December and numbers continue to rise in the US, South America and Europe.
- The UK has begun rolling out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while Australia and the US are preparing to do the same once the vaccine is approved.
- China has ramped up its trade conflict with Australia, putting tariffs of up to 200% on Australian wine and suspending the importation of Australian beef, barley and timber.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate unchanged at a record low 0.10% and the board expects rates will not increase for at least three years.