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Georgia election official says hand tally of presidential race affirms Biden’s lead over Trump

 

Trump will announce on Friday rules to lower U.S. drug prices

 

Top U.S. Congress aides discuss COVID-19 aid as jobless benefits expire post-Christmas

U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had agreed to resume COVID-19 relief talks as cases surge across the country, CNBC reported.

 

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

Global case: 57.31M

Global deaths: 1.364M

U.S. cases: 12.06M

U.S. deaths: 258,282

 

California orders nightly COVID-19 curfew on gatherings, non-essential activities

Mexico close to grim milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths

 

BNP Paribas says 2 thingsmust happen for the yuan to go global

China’s push to internationalize the yuan will be driven by two things — funds flowing into the country and a relaxation of rules that restrict the Chinese currency from moving abroad, said the chief executive of BNP Paribas China.

China’s ability to control the pandemic was “super important,” according to Lai , because it allows the central bank to maintain a relatively higher interest rate.

 

EU economics chief ‘worried’ about delays to coronavirus stimulus after Hungary and Poland veto

The EU’s economics chief is worried that a $2 trillion stimulus plan will not be delivered as quickly as originally planned, potentially threatening a recovery in the region.

This deal, which encompasses investments totaling 1.8 trillion euros ($2.13 trillion), was tweaked last month to link the disbursement of the funds with commitments to the EU’s core values — known as the rule of law.

The massive fiscal stimulus is a combination of a seven-year budget made of 1.074 trillion euros and an additional buffer of 750 billion euros, which will be raised from public markets. These funds were scheduled to be distributed from January onward and were welcomed by financial markets at the time of their announcement.

European nations have been significantly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, in particular highly-indebted nations such as Italy and Spain. They have struggled with combatting the economic fallout and asked for an EU-wide solution in the immediate wake of the public health emergency.

 

A ‘difficult moment’ - EU  Parliament

The European Central Bank is expecting an 8% decline in gross domestic product for the euro area this year. This would be the worst contraction in the region’s history.

“We are in a difficult moment because we have to decide whether the fundamental principles of rule of law are deeply rooted in our mind or not,” Manfred Weber, a conservative lawmaker at the European Parliament, told CNBC Thursday.

 

Oxford trial chief says its Covid vaccine could still be ready at a similar time to others

The coronavirus vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca could still be made available at a similar time to the other leading candidates, according to the head of Oxford’s vaccine trial.

Andrew Pollard made his comments shortly after a peer-reviewed analysis of phase two trials, published Thursday, showed the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot triggered a robust immune response in older adults.

The findings have raised hopes that it may be able to protect age groups most at risk from Covid-19.

Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the researchers were “really delighted” with the findings, adding he was “optimistic” phase three data would be made available before Christmas.

Early results from the phase three trials will determine the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Separately, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have already published preliminary data from their respective phase three trials, and both have proven to be highly protective against Covid infection.

 

The next step, Pollard explained, would be to provide regulators with all of the data and await a decision on licensing.

 

FDA would move as “quickly as possible” to clear vaccine

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNBC earlier this week that the Food and Drug Administration would move as “quickly as possible” to clear Pfizer and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines for emergency use.

 

WHO tells doctors not to use Gilead’s remdesivir as a coronavirus treatment, splitting with FDA

A World Health Organization panel advised doctors Thursday against using Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for patients hospitalized with Covid-19, saying there is currently “no evidence” that it improves survival or shortens recovery time — standing in stark contrast to U.S. regulatory guidance on the drug.

G-20 nations have now deployed $11 trillion to support a post-Covid economic recovery

G-20 nations have deployed an unprecedented $11 trillion so far to accelerate an equitable and sustainable economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis, according to a report released ahead of the G-20 leaders’ summit in Saudi Arabia this week. 

 

Brexit trade talks suspended because of Covid-19 case

The Brexit trade negotiations have been suspended at a crucial stage because an EU negotiator has tested positive for the coronavirus.

 

Turkey’s new-look central bank ‘decisively’ hikes rates by 475 basis points

Turkey’s central bank aggressively raised its policy rate by 475 basis points to 15% on Thursday, meeting lofty expectations after President Tayyip Erdogan installed a new governor and pledged a more

market-friendly economic approach.

The lira rallied nearly 1% after the bank’s policy committee said its “transparent and strong” tightening step would lower double-digit inflation, reverse a harmful dollarization trend and help it rebuild depleted foreign

reserves.

Japan’s consumer prices fall at fastest pace in decade, reviving deflation fears

Japan’s core consumer prices fell in October at their fastest pace annual in nearly a decade as the boost from last year’s sales tax hike petered out, heightening fears of a return to deflation for an economy still dealing with Covid-19.

Analysts expect consumer prices to continue falling in coming months due to sluggish consumption, casting doubt on the central bank’s view Japan will eventually see prices bounce back towards the central bank’s elusive 2% inflation target.

The wide core consumer prices, which excludes volatile fresh food costs, fell 0.7% in October from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, matching a median market forecast.

It was the third straight month of declines and the biggest year-on-year drop since March 2011, the data showed.

The decline was largely a result of the high base effect of a boost to inflation last year, following a sales tax hike to 10% from 8%, as well as a more recent government discount campaign for domestic travel aimed at reviving tourism, which weighed on prices.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Investing, Worldometers