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Ethereum Foundation Says Berlin Hard Fork Addressed ‘Clear and Present’ Threat
Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) – The spread of coronavirus in the U.S. continues to slow, with the country ending its first week since June with no days of infections exceeding 30,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that under-vaccinated areas in the U.S. could become hot spots for a mutation of the coronavirus first detected in India and is increasing surveillance of the more-transmissible variant.The U.K. government pushed back on claims from the former chief aide of Prime Minister Boris Johnson that officials pursued a herd-immunity strategy in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.Key Developments:Global Tracker: Cases pass 166.8 million; deaths exceed 3.4 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 1.65 billion doses have been givenData revisions leave Taiwan unsure where outbreak is headingWhat’s the best Covid vaccine? Why it’s not so simple: QuickTakeGlaxoSmithKline will make sure it’s on the front lines of the next pandemicVaccine tourists urged to read fine print on trips overseasThree at Wuhan Lab Hospitalized in Late 2019, WSJ Reports (3:20 p.m. NY)Three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care in November 2019, about the time when experts say the coronavirus began circulating around the Chinese city, the Wall Street Journal reported.The newspaper cited a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report that could bolster the theory that the pandemic began at the laboratory, which studied coronaviruses. No official conclusion has been made about the origin of the virus, and many nations, including the U.S., have criticized China for a lack transparency, without overtly embracing the lab-leak theory, which had been pushed by the Trump administration.California Deaths Decline (2:48 p.m. NY)California’s deaths dropped to 33 from 50 the day before. Cases rose to 1,308 from 1,186, a rate of 2.8 new cases per 100,000. California has administered more than 36 million vaccines in total. The state is preparing for its reopening on June 15, when it’s easing mask requirements and lifting capacity limits for most venues.France Deaths Lowest Since Fall (1:36 p.m. NY)France reported the lowest daily increases in coronavirus-related deaths since October, in a sign that the pandemic’s grip on the country is loosening. The 70 additional fatalities registered over the past 24 hours bring the official toll to 108,596. France reported 9,704 new cases, about a third less than the seven-day average.Gottlieb Says Covid Profile Changing (12:22 p.m. NY)Falling hospitalizations from Covid-19 show a “rapidly-declining vulnerability” in the U.S., as the people getting infected – sharply falling, but still averaging over 25,000 a day in the past week – tend to be younger and less vulnerable to complications, said former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb.Gottlieb said on CBS that many in the U.S. are gradually recalibrating their approach to masks, social distancing and other measures as cases and deaths fall sharply.“We need to make a judgment about what our comfort is. A lot of people have spent a year wearing masks and taking precautions, so it will take some time for us to get comfortable again going into settings without those precautions,” he said.Texas Governor Hails Early End to Masking (12:05 p.m. NY)Texas Governor Greg Abbott said his decision to remove mask mandates and to allow businesses to open at full capacity as early as March was the “right move.”“Of course, President Biden and the Democrats railed against it,” he said Sunday on Fox News. “Democrats said that I had issued a death warrant.”New cases and deaths have been declining in Texas since March. Last week, the state reported zero virus-related deaths for the first time in more than a year. About 43% of the population in Texas has received at least one dose of vaccine, behind the U.S. average of almost 49%, according to Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.Italy Reports Fewest Deaths This Year (11:58 a.m. NY)Italy on Sunday reported the lowest number of daily coronavirus-related deaths this year, according to Ansa. There were 3,995 new virus cases compared with 4,717 a day before and 72 deaths compared with 125 on Saturday.N.Y. Positive Test Rate Dips (11:48 a.m. NY)New York state’s single-day positive test rate dropped to .77%, the lowest since late August, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. The state’s positive tests are among the lowest in the U.S., with a seven-day average of .92%.Cuomo reported 1,073 new infections, in line with the dropping caseload, and 12 deaths. Hospitalizations continue to fall.U.S. Outbreak Continues to Weaken (8:16 a.m. NY)The U.S. reported just over 18,700 new cases Saturday, capping the first week since June with no days of infections exceeding 30,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Average daily infections dropped to about 25,600, compared with almost 217,500 at the end of the first week that vaccines were rolled out in the U.S. in mid-December.A further 481 fatalities were recorded, capping a week with the fewest fatalities since the end of March 2020.Norway Earmarks Priority Shots (8:06 a.m. NY)Norway has decided to set aside 500 vaccine doses for persons in socially critical functions, the government said in a statement Saturday. Members of parliament, government and the health directorate are among those who will be prioritized.U.K. Denies Cummings Claims (7:05 a.m. NY)The U.K. government pushed back on claims from the former chief aide of Prime Minister Boris Johnson that officials pursued a herd-immunity strategy in the early days of the pandemic. Dominic Cummings unleashed a series of tweets on Saturday criticizing the U.K.’s response.He said that letting enough citizens become infected in order to reach natural herd immunity was the “official plan in all docs/graphs/meetings” until early March 2020, when it became clear that such a policy would lead to catastrophe.When asked about the allegations in an interview on the BBC on Sunday, Home Secretary Priti Patel said that was “not at all” the plan. Jenny Harries, chief executive of the U.K. Health Security Agency, also said it wasn’t the nation’s strategy.Germany Vows Summer Easing (5:51 p.m. HK)Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, has promised a wide-ranging easing of pandemic restrictions during the summer if the country’s seven-day incidence rate falls below 20. “Last summer the rate was below 20. We should aim for that again,” Spahn told the Sunday edition of Bild. According to the Robert Koch Institute, Germany has a seven-seven-day incidence rate of 64.5. That means that there are 64.5 new infections per 100,000 individuals over a period of seven days.CDC on Variant Watch (5:01 p.m. HK)Federal health officials are ramping up their surveillance of the highly transmissible Covid-19 variant first identified in India, as experts warn that under-vaccinated areas in the U.S. could become hot spots for the mutation.While U.S. cases attributed to the B.1.617 variant currently sit below 1%, the growth rate remains unclear due to the small sample size. One science group said the strain could be as much as 50% more transmissible than B.1.1.7, the variant that emerged from the U.K. That mutation was first seen in the U.S. in late December, and is now dominant nationally.India Cases Lowest in More Than a Month (2:38 p.m. HK)India’s new coronavirus cases continued to slow with a daily total of 240,842 on Sunday, the lowest in more than a month. Meanwhile, India’s capital extended its lockdown until May 31 as it halted vaccinations of people age 18 to 44 due to a shortage of jabs. India and scores of other World Trade Organization members made a fresh appeal for a three-year patent waiver on products and technology used in the treatment of Covid-19, the Economic Times reported.CDC Probes Cases of Youth Heart Inflammation (7:17 a.m. HK)The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating “relatively few” reports of a heart problem in adolescents and young adults after a Covid-19 vaccination.A report from a meeting of the agency’s safety group on May 17 said that most discovered cases of myocarditis “appear to be mild” and could be unrelated to vaccinations. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle often found after an infection.The cases were mostly in adolescents and young adults and more often in males than females. The report added that the cases occurred more often after a second dose than the first and were typically found within four days after infection.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment
Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) – As the hunt for investments that can withstand rising interest rates gathers pace, frontier assets are gaining popularity over their larger emerging-market peers.The bonds of the world’s least-developed economies have returned 2.6% this year, keeping pace with their 2020 performance, while higher-ranked emerging-market debt has lost almost 2%, reversing some of last year’s 5.3% advance, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. indexes.With speculation growing that the world’s post-pandemic economic recovery is fueling inflation, the bonds of smaller developing nations are luring buyers as their securities tend to be of shorter duration – meaning they are less sensitive to expectations for interest-rate increases. The average duration of frontier-market sovereign bonds is six years, compared with 7.9 years for traditional emerging markets, JPMorgan indexes show.“People are still worried interest rates have to rise and they are looking for yield and interest-rate duration,” said Leo Hu, who co-manages the $7 billion Emerging Markets Debt Hard Currency Fund at NN Investment Partners in Singapore. Frontier bonds may return at least 9% in the next 12 months, he said.The burgeoning interest in frontier assets nonetheless represents a threat to the global economy as central banks move back into policy-tightening mode. Less developed nations, such as those in Africa, present a higher chance of default than their larger emerging-market peers. And the more funds they attract, the greater the threat of potential contagion should rising borrowing costs hamper economic growth.Into AfricaIn terms of geography, money managers who specialize in frontier assets are almost united in favoring Africa, saying the region will benefit the most from rising raw material prices. These include Angola, Ghana and Zambia – even though the latter became the first African country in the Covid-19 era to default when it skipped a Eurobond payment last year.Zambia has benefited as copper has risen to record highs, with demand bolstered by the global recovery and the transition toward green energy. The metal accounts for almost 80% of Zambia’s export earnings. The nation’s dollar debt has returned 24% this year amid prospects of an International Monetary Fund bailout, second only to Ecuador among the roughly 75 emerging markets tracked by Bloomberg Barclays indexes.Angola, Africa’s second-biggest oil producer, is another favorite. A slide in crude prices last year triggered by the pandemic led the country to seek $6.2 billion of relief from its major creditors, easing fears of a default in one of the continent’s most-indebted countries. Angola’s bonds have returned 12% this year, according to a Bloomberg Barclays index.African bonds also stand out from their peers in terms of yields. Ghana’s 2025 securities currently yield 6.3%, while similar-maturity Angolan debt yields 7%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That stands in contrast to traditional emerging markets. The 10-year bonds of Indonesia yield just 2.4%. Mexico’s yield 3.1%.“We have been allocating more to frontier sovereign credits,” said Jens Nystedt, a fund manager in New York at Emso Asset Management, a specialist on fixed-income investments in emerging markets overseeing $6.8 billion. “In particular, we like the outlook for Nigeria, Ghana and Angola given that they would be some of the main beneficiaries from higher oil prices.”Bailout ProgramSentiment toward frontier markets was also boosted this year after the International Monetary Fund announced a plan to create $650 billion in additional reserve assets to help developing economies cope with the pandemic.IMF support has been crucial for the likes of Pakistan, which raised $2.5 billion in March after the resumption of a $6 billion bailout program. Ecuador’s new government plans to reach a deal with the IMF to ensure financial stability and unlock some of the funds related to the $6.5 billion financing agreement reached last year.Frontier-nation bonds offer higher yields for a reason – they are judged to have a higher chance of default. But many fund managers aren’t deterred.“There are quite some risks, such as the worsening of the pandemic or too much stimulus, but we stick with the rosier scenario for frontier markets,” said Edgardo Sternberg, co-manager for emerging-markets debt portfolios in Boston at Loomis Sayles & Co., which oversees $3.5 billion of developing-nation bonds. “Frontier markets should continue to outperform,” he said.Central bank meetings in Nigeria, Kenya and Angola will be in focus this week. Elsewhere, policy makers in Indonesia and South Korea will also decide on interest rates.Rates on HoldNigeria is likely to keep its key interest rate unchanged on Tuesday as the fragility of its economic recovery outweighs concerns about inflation, which remained more than double the the bank’s official target ceiling in AprilMonetary authorities in Kenya and Angola are also expected to hold rates on Wednesday and Friday, respectivelyWhile central banks in Indonesia and South Korea will also likely keep rates steady this week, the focus will be on the signs for a change of tack in the months aheadOn Tuesday, traders will be watching to see if Bank Indonesia prioritizes currency stability over supporting growth amid concerns over a quickening in global inflation and the country’s slow pace of vaccinations. The rupiah was Asia’s worst-performing currency last week and the nation’s sovereign bonds extended lossesOn Thursday, the Bank of Korea’s forecasts for growth and inflation will be in focus as the central bank updates its economic projectionsWhile Colombia’s central bank will convene on Friday, the gathering is not a monetary policy meeting, according to Bloomberg EconomicsInvestors will watch for further market impact in Colombia as the nation faces more credit downgrades, which would solidify its loss of investment-grade statusEconomic DataChina’s industrial profits probably continued to log a double-digit growth rate in April, although the pace may have slowed from March, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Faster factory-gate inflation was likely a support as well as strong exports, economists including Chang Shu wrote in a noteThe onshore yuan is holding close to its strongest level since 2018 amid an improving outlook for China’s economy. It’s on track to become the best-performing currency in Asia this month after India’s rupeeChinese debt is similarly outperforming all emerging-market peers; the benchmark 10-year sovereign yield has fallen nine basis points year-to-dateData due Monday is likely to show Taiwan’s April industrial production grew at the fastest pace since January while unemployment might have edged down to 3.7%, the lowest in over two yearsThe Taiwan dollar has remained resilient in recent weeks, supported by strong demand for the nation’s exports, even as a worsening Covid-19 outbreak has forced authorities to widen a lockdown to the entire islandInvestors will also get an update on how the region’s trade sector is improving, as figures from Thailand and Malaysia are due Tuesday and Friday, respectivelyIndustrial production and inflation numbers from Russia will come under scrutiny, with the ruble beating most of its peers in the past month on the prospect of more policy tightening. The data come Tuesday and Wednesday, respectivelyMexico’s bi-weekly inflation reading due Monday is expected to show a decline in the first half of MayOn Wednesday, traders will monitor final first-quarter gross domestic product data for any changes versus last month’s estimateBloomberg Economics expects the release of minutes on Thursday from the latest central bank meeting to reflect a less dovish toneBrazilian IPCA consumer price inflation data for May, scheduled for Tuesday, will probably see an uptick amid higher electricity prices, according to Bloomberg EconomicsInvestors will watch current-account figures for April on Wednesday for signs that a strong trade surplus boosted the balance. Unemployment numbers the next day may reflect increased restrictions in March as infections rose.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.