Ether, the world’s second-largest virtual currency, rose to as high as $1,476 on Monday, its highest level on record due to improvement in the underlying network and heightened institutional demand. Ethereum blockchain has been under a major upgrade to make it faster and more secure. Ether is up about 90% since the start of the year, extending an over 470% jump in 2020.

The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany fell to 90.1 in January of 2021 from an upwardly revised 92.2 in the previous month, below market forecasts of 91.8. It is the lowest reading in seven months as companies became less optimistic about current conditions (89.2 vs 91.3) and expectations (91.1 vs 93). Many service providers were affected by lockdown, including transport and logistics and retail has collapsed while industry continues to be well positioned, Ifo economist Wohlrabe said. Economic uncertainty has grown and the German GDP is expected to stagnate in Q1, he added.

European stocks closed in the red on Monday, with Frankfurt's DAX 30 down 1.7% to 13,641 after poor German business data added to worries about record Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations, a slow vaccination rollout and delays in vaccine supplies. Both AstraZeneca and Pfizer have said they won't be able to meet delivery targets to Europe in the coming weeks. Travel and leisure stocks were among the worst performers amid expectations of further travel restrictions from the US and the UK on fears of new coronavirus strain. In France, talks over a third lockdown weighted. On the data front, a report by the German Ifo Institute showed business climate in Germany fell to a six-month low as companies became less optimistic about current and future conditions. Meantime, optimism over a $1.9 trillion US stimulus plan faded after top Senate Democrat said lawmakers would try to pass stimulus in a month at the earliest.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' general business activity index for manufacturing in Texas fell to 7 in January of 2021 from an upwardly revised 10.5 in December. The reading pointed to the lowest growth in factory activity in the current sequence of 6 months of growth, amid a sharp slowdown in production (4.6 vs 26.8), new orders (6.3 vs 19.6), orders (5.9 vs 15.9), shipments (13.5 vs 23.4) and employment (16.6 vs 20.9). Meanwhile, the company outlook index also stayed in positive territory but retreated to 10.3 from 18.2.

Oil prices steadied on Monday, with WTI trading around $52.3 a barrel and Brent about $55.4 a barrel as traders balance enthusiasm that Democrats would be able to push forwards its $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package against virus woes. On the supply side, Iraq engaged in voluntary production cuts to compensate for its overproduction last year. The OPEC’s second-biggest producer will pump around 3.6 million barrels daily in January and February, below December’s 3.85 million bpd. Meantime, COVID-19 cases continue to surge worldwide pointing to further lockdowns, in particular in Hong Kong, China and France. China, the world’s second-largest oil user reported 124 new infections on Monday, the most since March 2020.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index in the US jumped to 0.52 in December of 2020 from an upwardly revised 0.31 in November. The reading pointed to the 8th consecutive month of growing activity, led by improvements in production-related indicators (0.44 vs 0.13). On the other hand, the contribution of the sales, orders, and inventories category moved down to 0.05 from 0.09 and employment-related indicators to 0.13 from 0.15 in November while the contribution of the personal consumption and housing category fell further to -0.09 from -0.06. The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, ticked up to 0.61 in December from 0.59 in November.

The US is expected to continue restrictions on travel from Brazil, UK, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe and extend it to South Africa to prevent the spread of new Covid-19 strains. Moderna warned its current vaccine is far less effective against the South African variant. Also, the US pharmaceutical company Merck stopped the development of its two Covid-19 vaccines after early data showed both of them generated immune responses that were inferior to those seen in people who had recovered from Covid-19 as well as those reported for other vaccines. Meanwhile, the number of people infected with the coronavirus in the US rose by 132,537 on Sunday, bringing the nationwide total to over 25 million and the number of casualties rose to at least 419,000. So far 22.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered with 3.3 million people receiving the second dose.

The liquified natural gas market started the last trading week of January on a high note, with front-month futures climbing to weekly tops near $2.6/MMBtu, as colder temperatures across the United States boosted demand for the heating gas. Investors now await Thursday’s EIA storage report for a clear picture regarding the supply/demand balance.

Mexico's economic activity shrank 3.9 percent over a year earlier in November of 2020, following a 5.3 percent decline in the prior month and less than an expected 4.5 percent slump. It was the smallest decrease in economic activity since March. Output fell at a slower pace in services (-4.8 percent vs -6.7 percent in October) and primary activities grew faster (8.8 percent vs 7.3 percent). Meanwhile, secondary activities contracted more (-3.7 percent vs -3.4 percent). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, economic activity advanced 0.9 percent, after a downwardly revised 1.2 percent rise in October and beating market estimates of a 0.3 percent increase.