Weekly news summary for March 26 to April 1
Friday, March 26, 2021: Global Efforts to Contain COVID-19 Falters
Global efforts in controlling the spread of COVID-19 are weakening, with regional progress diverging sharply, while the US seemed to be on track to join China in containing the virus, even though new infection rates appeared to have reached their worst point in recent days.
President Joe Biden has accelerated his timetable for vaccinating the US population, stating that he now expects 200 million shots in his first 100 days, after the country met the first 100-million goal.
Monday, March 29, 2021: Nomura and Credit Suisse Warn of Huge Losses
Major banks Nomura Holdings Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG warned of huge losses on Monday, after New-York based hedge fund Archegos Capital Management LP significantly unwound its positions, leading to a $20-billion fire sale of US and Chinese equities.
Nomura stated that it might incur a $2-billion loss, leading its stock to slip 16% in Japan, while Credit Suisse’s stock declined 14% in Europe after it said the loss could be substantial and material to their first-quarter results.
Tuesday, March 30, 2021: US Dollar Up, Gold Down as Bond Yields Climb
US Treasury notes were up on Tuesday, sending the US dollar up and gold futures down as markets awaited details on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending plans set to be revealed on Wednesday.
The US dollar index rose 0.2% to $93.11 against a basket of major currencies, slightly short of its high of $93.19, while the 10-year Treasury bond yield climbed 1.77% to its highest since the pandemic began, and the gold retreated below $1,700 to test a three-month low.
Wednesday, March 31, 2021: Deliveroo Falls 30% on London Market Debut
Deliveroo’s London market debut on Wednesday disappointed as its shares fell as much as 30%, amid the possibility that its business model could turn unviable due to labor market regulation in its largest markets and dissatisfaction over its two share structure.
The IPO, which is Europe’s biggest of 2021 so far, cut more than £2 billion off the Amazon-backed company’s valuation to about $10.5 billion in a blow to the UK’s goals to bring rapidly developing tech firms to the London market.
Thursday, April 1, 2021: Hong Kong Court Finds Democracy Leaders Guilty
Seven of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democrat activists were found guilty on Thursday of an unauthorized assembly at the height of the 2019 protests, including barrister Martin Lee and media tycoon Jimmy Lai.
The group was convicted of participating and organizing an unauthorized march on Aug. 18, 2019, when anti-government protests shocked Hong Kong’s financial sector.
