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(Alliance News) - France and Germany were set to resume AstraZeneca vaccinations on Friday after EU regulators gave the jab the all-clear, AFP reports, and US President Joe Biden said his administration would meet its goal of inoculating 100 million Americans weeks ahead of schedule.
Days of commotion around the Covid-19 jab associated with blood clot risks saw countries from Venezuela to Indonesia put their AstraZeneca programmes on pause, hampering the drive to vaccinate populations worldwide against the disease that has killed more than 2.6 million people.
Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria also said they would resume vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency said Thursday that the jab was "safe and effective".
America was due Friday to administer its 100 millionth dose, boosting optimism – as infection rates fall – that the world's worst-hit country is headed for a powerful rebound.
"I'm proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into my administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans," Biden said in a White House speech.
But he also cautioned it "is a time for optimism but it's not a time for relaxation".
Millions across France prepared to enter a new month-long, limited lockdown from midnight Saturday after the country recorded its highest new caseload in nearly four months.
Non-essential businesses in Paris will close, although schools will stay open and outdoor exercise allowed up to 10 kilometres from home.
As in previous lockdowns, a form will be needed to justify why a person has left the home in areas under the new restrictions.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex said he would get the AstraZeneca jab on Friday, while Norway and Sweden were holdouts among European countries, saying they would wait before resuming their own vaccine drives.
AstraZeneca shares were down 0.2% early Friday.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.9% at 6,720.95
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Hang Seng: down 1.6% at 28,943.93
Nikkei 225: closed down 1.4% at 29,792.05
DJIA: closed down 153.07 points, 0.5%, at 32,862.30
S&P 500: closed down 1.5% at 3,915.46
Nasdaq Composite: closed down 3.0% at 13,116.17
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EUR: flat at USD1.1933 (USD1.1935)
GBP: firm at USD1.3955 (USD1.3949)
USD: down at JPY108.73 (JPY108.95)
Gold: up at USD1,745.44 per ounce (USD1,735.34)
Oil (Brent): down at USD63.45 a barrel (USD65.14)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Friday's Key Economic Events still to come
none scheduled
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The UK government borrowed another hefty amount in February, though less than economists were expecting, as lockdown restrictions continued, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics showed. UK public sector net borrowing, excluding public sector banks, was estimated to have been GBP19.1 billion in February, up from GBP3.1 billion in January, but lower than economist forecasts of GBP21 billion. Still, the latest figure was the highest February borrowing since monthly records began in 1993, according to the ONS.
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UK consumer confidence is showing "green shoots" of recovery on the back of well-received government budget announcements, the successful vaccine rollout and roadmaps in place for ending lockdown, a survey suggests. British peoples' positivity about their personal finances over the next 12 months is at its highest point in three years, jumping six points to a score of 10 in March, seven points higher than this time last year, according to the long-running consumer confidence index by market research company GfK, which stands for Growth from Knowledge. The index recorded an overall score of minus 16. While this indicates that attitudes remain negative, it is a robust increase on last month's score of minus 23, with all five measures increasing on February and marking an improvement each month of this year.
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The Bank of Japan maintained its negative interest rate and tweaked its monetary easing programme as it battles to boost inflation and shore up the pandemic-hit economy. The adjustment, which marginally expands the fluctuation in long-term rates for 10-year bonds that the bank will accept, is seen as a potential forerunner to further tweaks in policy. The bank said the range of 10-year government bond yield fluctuation would be "between around plus and minus 0.25%" from the target level in order to conduct yield curve control flexibly. The bank also said it would allow more flexibility in its stock purchases, dropping a target for its intervention in the Tokyo stock market, which has strongly recovered since crashing in spring 2020 as the pandemic began to bite. In its policy review, the central bank dropped its pledge to purchase exchange-traded funds at an annual rate of JPY6 trillion, about USD55 billion, while keeping an upper limit of JPY12 trillion. The bank's policies were otherwise largely left untouched after its two-day meeting, with an interest rate of negative 0.1% left intact, as well as an annual ceiling on stock purchases.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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SOCGEN RAISES RIO TINTO TO 'BUY' (HOLD)
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GOLDMAN SACH CUTS HAMMERSON TO 'SELL' ('NEUTRAL') - TARGET 22 (21) PENCE
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BARCLAYS CUTS HAMMERSON TO 'UNDERWEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT') - TARGET 30 (26) PENCE
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EXANE BNP RAISES ASOS TO 'OUTPERFORM' (NEUTRAL) - PRICE TARGET 6400 (5500) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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The UK government cut its stake in NatWest to 59.8% from 61.7%. NatWest said it agreed with the Treasury to make an off-market purchase of 590.7 million shares from UK Government Investments at Thursday's closing market price of 190.50 pence per share, worth GBP1.12 billion. The UK government now holds 6.92 billion NatWest shares. NatWest said it plans to cancel 390.7 million of UK government shares and hold the remaining 200 million in treasury. NatWest said the off-market purchase of shares also required it to contribute GBP500 million to its main pension scheme, under an agreement announced back in 2018. After tax relief, the contribution will reduce tangible equity by GBP365 million, the bank said, of which GBP99 million will be cut from its CET1 ratio. As result of the share purchase and pension contribution, NatWest said its CET1 ratio as at December 31 will be reduced by 72 basis points.
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JP Morgan said it has placed 10.4 million London Stock Exchange Group shares at 7,150 pence each, in a deal worth GBP745 million. The placing was of existing shares held Thomson Reuters and Refinitiv management, and LSEG received no proceeds. Following completion of the placing, the sellers will own in aggregate around 30% economic interest and 22% voting interest in LSEG.
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The UK Competition & Markets Authority said it is requiring Countryside Properties and Taylor Wimpey to remove contract terms that mean leaseholders have to pay ground rents that double every 10 or 15 years. The CMA said the lease terms mean people can struggle to sell their properties and become trapped. The regulator added it is still investigating similar lease terms used by Barratt Developments and Persimmon Homes.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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JD Wetherpoon swung to an interim loss as pub closures due to tight UK restrictions continued to frustrate the company. For the half year ended January 24, JD Wetherspoon swung to GBP61.4 million pretax loss from a GBP42.0 million profit the year before on revenue of GBP431.1 million, down 54% from GBP933.0 million. JD Wetherspoon said it was not recommending interim dividend "in current circumstances", as the company complained bitterly about having to cope with Covid-19 rules with "no real basis in common sense or science". Chair Tim Martin said: "Wetherspoon recorded over 50 million customer visits to its pubs from reopening in July, to the year end, and there has been no evidence of even a single outbreak, as defined by the health authorities, during this time." He added: "The future of the industry, and of the UK economy, depends on a consistent set of sensible policies, based on scientific evidence, rather than on political expediency."
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Friday's Shareholder Meetings
Chenavari Toro Income Fund Ltd - AGM
Red Rock Resources PLC - GM re Kansai acquisition
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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