1. U.S Stocks Continue To Move Up; Markets Awaiting Key Data
U.S stocks continue to move up as markets wait for the U.S. Jobs Data. The S&P 500 gained, mostly led by tech stocks. The dollar remained stronger ahead of comments from the U.S Federal Reserve officials. Crude futures extended gains and continue to move up from the highest October 2018. Treasuries and gold also gained as concerns.
Stoxx Europe is up 0.20%
Dow Jones is up 0.29%
NASDAQ is up 0.28%
2. Turkish Lira At Record Lows
The Turkish lira currency recorded a new low against the US dollar on Wednesday over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call for lower interest rates despite high levels of inflation. The currency fell to 8.8 against the US dollar during early Wednesday, then it recovered to 8.62/$.
3. Orsted To Invest More In Green Energy
The world’s largest offshore wind farm developer, Orsted announced its plan to raise its green energy investment target to Rs 4,16,203 crores by 2027 from the previous Rs 2,39,397 crores by 2025 target. The Danish firm sold its oil and gas business in 2017 and now is aiming to be the global leader in green energy.
4. Gamestop Event Attracted More Teens Into Investing: Survey
As per a survey done by Wells Fargo, the GameStop event boosted the teenager’s interest in investing. The share price of the stock surged to record highs and many of the teenagers benefited from it as many of them had some investments in it.
5. Etsy Inc Ready To Buy Fashion Resale Company Depop
The American e-commerce company Etsy, Inc is ready to buy Generation-Z focused fashion resale company Depop for Rs 11,901 crores. The new deal is highly beneficial for Etsy Inc as the London-based Depop is known for its vintage and streetwear collections and it has more than 2.6 crore users from over 147 countries.
6. Amazon Shifts Its Policy In Employee Monitoring System
The Time Off Task policy is a system in Amazon warehouses that uses algorithms to monitor workers’ productivity, with employees made to explain their breaks. If you think this is a crazy system for one of the world’s largest companies, then Amazon workers will agree. Amazon on Tuesday announced they are now averaging Time off Task over a longer period and this will ensure worker’s well being after growing protests against working standards.
7. India, U.K. Eye Interim Pact to Help Clinch Major Trade Deal
India and the UK are moving ahead with talks to remove non-tariff barriers and nurture greater market access. The two countries are working on India’s first major free trade pact in more than 10 years.
The two countries are trying to prove that their previous decisions(U.K leaving the European Union and India pulling out of the Asia Pact in 2019) were not blunders.
8. Elon Musk says Panic-Buying of Chips Is Like the Rush on Toilet Paper
Billionaire owner of Tesla, Elon Musk, compared the panic buying of semiconductor chips to consumers hoarded toilet paper in March last year as the pandemic started. The shortage is creating issues for Tesla’s supply chain, as companies are ordering more microcontrollers than they need due to panic buying mentality.
9. Singapore Allows Sinovac Vaccine After WHO Emergency Approval
Singapore said it will allow the use of China’s Sinovac Biotech Covid-19 vaccine, after the World Health Organization approved the drug for emergency use.
This means that the vaccine can be used by private health care providers as the Singapore Ministry of health said. The Sinovac vaccine is not yet part of the national vaccine program.
10. Where Did Coronavirus Come From? U.S-China Tensions Increasing
Tensions between the U.S and China have been getting worse since the pandemic, with the biggest issue now being the search for the origin of Covid-19 virus. Last year, China imposed tariffs on Australia as it sought a probe into the coronavirus’ origins. After that, China’s government has called all suggestions about the Wuhan Lab Leak Theory as politically motivated and dismissed them.
Interestingly, US President Biden’s secret intelligence community had delivered a report to him earlier this month on the virus’s origins but failed to reach a common conclusion about the origins of the virus.
