(Bloomberg) -- The European Union criticized President Donald Trump’s threat to permanently freeze U.S. funding to the World Health Organization, saying the fight against the coronavirus required global cooperation. China may look to target exports from Australia over its calls for a probe into the origin of Covid-19.
Brazil is now the world’s fastest-growing virus hotspot, accounting for 13% of new cases globally in the past week, while infections in India rose at the fastest pace in Asia to top 100,000. Deaths linked to the virus in Britain exceeded 40,000, making it the first country in Europe to reach that threshold.
Singapore plans to reopen more businesses as the virus there is seen to be under control. Russia’s prime minister returned to office three weeks after testing positive -- a period that saw total cases in the country almost triple to just under 300,000. Earlier, Trump said he is taking hydroxychloroquine, despite warnings of serious side effects.
Key Developments:
Virus Tracker: Cases top 4.8 million; deaths exceed 319,000U.S. airlines see signs of life after April travel collapseHK unemployment rate soars; jobless claims rise in BritainCovid patients testing positive after recovery aren’t infectiousModerna to raise as much as $1.3 billion to fund vaccineCrisis brings gaming boom, adding billions to makers’ wealth
Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus. See this week’s top stories from QuickTake here.
Kudlow: Nobody Can Confidently Invest in China (9:52 a.m. NY)
Trump’s economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said nobody can invest confidently in Chinese companies and that the U.S. needs to protect investors from the country’s lack of transparency and accountability.
Speaking on the Fox Business Network on Tuesday, Kudlow pointed to potential lawsuits related to the coronavirus, saying “until that stuff is sorted out, nobody really can invest with confidence in China.”
The Trump administration is increasingly blaming China for the pandemic, while his critics accuse the president of trying to deflect attention from the U.S.’s handling of the outbreak.
EU Cheers WHO’s Approval of Resolution (9:06 a.m. NY)
The European Union hailed the World Health Assembly’s approval of an EU-sponsored resolution on the virus, saying the move highlights the importance of a “collective response” to the pandemic.
“Strengthening multilateralism is now more important than ever,” EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell and Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a statement after the endorsement by the governing body of the WHO. “The role of equitable access to a vaccine in bringing the pandemic to an end is crucial.”
The EU earlier criticized Trump’s threat to permanently cut U.S. funding for the WHO.
“This is the time for solidarity; it is not the time for finger-pointing or undermining multilateral cooperation,” Virginie Battu-Henriksson, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, the 27-nation EU’s executive arm, told reporters in Brussels.
Separately, the U.K.’s Lancet medical journal said Trump’s claim that the WHO ignored reports of a new virus spreading last year -- including an article in the Lancet -- is wrong and “damaging.”
“The Lancet published no report in December, 2019, referring to a virus or outbreak in Wuhan or anywhere else in China,” the journal said in an emailed statement. “It is essential that any review of the global response is based on a factually accurate account of what took place.”
Southwest Sees Signs of Life in Bookings (8:50 a.m. NY)
Southwest Airlines Co. joined other U.S. carriers noting nascent signs of revival, saying that bookings in May are outpacing cancellations for the first time since March and that travel reservations for next month are showing “modest improvement.”
U.S. Housing Starts Slump by Most on Record (8:34 a.m. NY)
U.S. home construction starts plunged in April by the most in records back to 1959, as the nationwide lockdown hammered the housing market and broader economy.
Residential starts plummeted 30.2% to an 891,000 from a month earlier, the lowest level since February 2015, according to a government report released Tuesday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 900,000 pace. Applications to build, a proxy for future construction, dropped 20.8%, the most since July 2008, to a five-year low.
Singapore to Reopen More Businesses (8 a.m. NY)
Singapore will allow more businesses to reopen on June 2 -- increasing the active proportion of the economy to three-quarters. Restrictions will be introduced in three phases provided “community” infection rates remain low during the current lockdown ending June 1 and health workers are protected, officials said at a press briefing Tuesday.
The government will extend more support to businesses and their workers, with a priority on companies that remain closed on June 1, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat is expected to announce details of a fourth stimulus package next Tuesday in parliament.
EasyJet Says Hackers Accessed Data of 9 Million (7:50 a.m. NY)
EasyJet Plc. said email addresses and travel data of about 9 million customers had been accessed in a “highly sophisticated” cyberattack. Credit card details for 2,208 customers had also been accessed, EasyJet said Tuesday in a statement. It said it’s closed off the unauthorized access and will contact customers over the next few days.
Cyberattacks against businesses and their employees have surged this year as hackers take advantage of the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Contested Jerusalem Holy Site to Reopen (7:40 a.m. NY)
A contested Jerusalem site, holy to both Jews and Muslims, will reopen next week after being closed for almost two months. The Waqf, an Islamic trust that administers the site, said it will open the Al-Aqsa compound immediately after Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. There are 16,650 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Israel.
Separately, the Health Ministry said it will let wedding halls and other event venues reopen beginning June 14 under certain restrictions. The ministry also temporarily lifted a requirement to wear masks in public areas amid a heat wave, and schoolchildren were given a temporary reprieve from wearing them in classrooms.
Chinese Tycoon Expects Vaccine Trials at Home Soon (7:10 a.m. NY)
The billionaire founder of Fosun Group expects to soon win approvals for testing a vaccine against the new coronavirus in his home country China. In March, Guo’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. teamed up with German partner BioNTech SE, which has already been conducting human clinical trials of the vaccine in Germany. Early-stage results should be available soon, the tycoon said.
Guo declined to elaborate on when Fosun Pharmaceutical will obtain all the required approvals. The group has also been working with overseas partners in trying to find an effective medicine against the virus, but so far it hasn’t found any, he said.
Walmart Sales Soar on Stockpiling (7:08 a.m. NY)
Walmart Inc. posted strong quarterly sales fueled by coronavirus-related stockpiling, showing how it’s one of the few retailers that’s thriving even amid the unprecedented carnage in the U.S. retail sector. Comparable-store sales, a key retail metric, increased 10% for U.S. Walmart stores in the period, compared with the 8.6% estimate compiled by Consensus Metrix. That’s the fastest pace of growth in almost two decades. Profit in the quarter also beat expectations.
The “significant uncertainty” surrounding the length and intensity of the coronavirus’s impact prompted the retailer to withdraw its full-year guidance, given just three months ago. Still, Walmart said its “business fundamentals are strong.”
Earlier, Home Depot also suspended its full-year forecast citing uncertainty related to the duration of COVID-19 and its impact on the broader economy, while Kohl’s suspended its dividend and stock buyback.
Singapore May Announce Fourth Stimulus Package (6:45 a.m. NY)
Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat will deliver a statement in Parliament on May 26 on plans to help businesses and individuals amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Straits Times reported. The statement is expected to contain a fourth round of Covid-19 support measures since February, the paper said,
Dimon Says Pandemic Is a Wake-Up Call (6 a.m. NY)
Jamie Dimon said he hopes policy makers use the Covid-19 crisis as a catalyst to rebuild a more-inclusive economy as the pandemic exposes stark inequalities among Americans.
“This crisis must serve as a wake-up call and a call to action for business and government to think, act and invest for the common good and confront the structural obstacles that have inhibited inclusive economic growth for years,” the chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. wrote in a memo to employees ahead of the bank’s annual shareholder meeting Tuesday.
Russian Prime Minister Returns to Office (5:39 p.m. HK)
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin returned to his position nearly three weeks after he tested positive for coronavirus. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree canceling a temporary transfer of Mishustin’s authority to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, who was named acting premier on April 30.
Following his diagnosis, Mishustin, 54, reappeared on state television on May 8 and has repeatedly participated in video-conferences with Putin and other ministers since then. Mishustin, three government ministers and at least five State Duma deputies have been diagnosed with the virus, as well as Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Mishustin returns to office with Russian cases just shy of 300,000, having nearly tripled since he tested positive at the end of last month. After a surge over the past few weeks, the number of new diagnoses is now starting to decline.
Watch Out for Chinese M&A, Vestager Says (5:25 p.m. HK)
The European Union needs to be “vigilant” about Chinese takeovers if the bloc’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic lags behind, antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager warned.
“It is very important to be vigilant, especially in a situation where they may be sort of a staggered recovery, where some parts of the world recover faster than others are,” Vestager said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday when asked about the potential threat from China.
Pakistan Malls Open After Court Intervenes (5:10 p.m. HK)
After being closed for almost two months, shopping malls in Pakistan have been allowed to open following a judgment by the Supreme Court.
Pakistan’s government had allowed some domestic flights to operate and neighborhood shops to open over the past week, but had decided against reopening shopping malls.
The court’s order came as Pakistan added 3,815 new cases, the biggest single day increase, taking its total to 43,966 with 939 deaths, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
German Investor Confidence Jumps (5:06 p.m. HK)
Investors are growing more confident that the German economy will recover from its worst postwar slump in the second half of the year, with businesses resuming activity after the government lifted restrictions. A ZEW gauge measuring investor expectations for the next six months climbed to 51.0, the highest level in five years and above all estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
At the same time, concerns about the present state of Europe’s largest economy are running deep amid rising unemployment and surging bankruptcies. A leading business lobby said German gross domestic product will contract by 10% in 2020. Europe’s largest economy would then bounce back with a 5% expansion next year, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, or DIHK, said.
The group’s 2020 outlook is worse than the government’s forecast of a 6.3% contraction this year.
U.K. Virus-Related Deaths Rise to More Than 40,000 (4:51 p.m. HK)
The number of deaths linked to coronavirus in the U.K. exceeded 40,000, making it the first country in Europe to reach that threshold. Almost 43,000 fatalities mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate through May 16, according to the latest data registered with national statistics offices. Mortalities are leveling off in the countries, with England and Wales reporting a decrease in the number of deaths involving the virus on the previous week.
The government is facing calls to be more open about its strategy to combat the pandemic, with some lawmakers called for the publication of the scientific advice behind Britain’s response to the virus.
Austria’s Virus Reproduction Rate Rises (4:45 p.m. HK)
Austria’s so-called reproduction factor has risen above 1 again after an outbreak clustered around a temporary work agency in and around capital Vienna. The reproduction factor, calculated on the basis of 13 days of new infections, had been below 1 since April 4 and rose to 1.07 as of May 15, according to health Agency AGES, which publishes the factor in varying intervals.
A rate above one indicates every infected person is statistically passing it to more than one other person. Austria was among the first European countries to ease the coronavirus lockdown from April 14 after containing infections early and quickly. A surge of infections in Vienna and the province surrounding it this month have driven up the 7-day average of daily new infections to 55, the highest since May 2.
Hong Kong Unemployment Rate Rises to Highest Since 2009 (4:39 p.m. HK)
Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose for a seventh straight month to the highest in more than a decade, as the economy remains in recession amid the coronavirus pandemic and braces for the prospect of renewed political unrest.
The jobless rate for the February-to-April period rose to 5.2%, worse than the median estimate of 4.6% among economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The level is the highest since October 2009, the data show. The rise extended the longest stretch of increases since the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Sweden Plans Record 30-Fold Jump in Borrowing (4:38 p.m. HK)
The National Debt Office estimates that the net borrowing requirement will rise to 402 billion kronor ($41.5 billion) this year, compared with a previous forecast for just 14 billion kronor. As a result, Scandinavia’s biggest economy will need to rely much more on debt markets than in previous years.
Sweden has adopted a laxer approach to fighting Covid-19 than many other countries, with much of the economy remaining open. Instead, the government has relied on citizens following social distancing guidelines. For now, there’s little sign Sweden’s economy is doing much better than others.
China Dismisses Trump’s WHO Comments (3:54 p.m. HK)
Trump’s latest complaints of favoritism by World Health Organization are “futile,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday. The comments come after Trump escalated his threats against the international body over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he would permanently cut U.S. funding if it does not make sweeping reforms.
In a four-page letter detailing his many grievances with the WHO, Trump called on the group to “demonstrate independence from China,” renewing a complaint that led him in April to temporarily suspend U.S. funding. He posted the letter late Monday on Twitter.
Europe’s Bank Watchdogs Put Further Relief on Hold (3:45 p.m. HK)
Europe’s banking regulators plan to wait until the end of the third quarter before deciding whether to grant more relief or start a gradual return to stricter demands, according to people familiar with the matter.
After providing unprecedented flexibility for banks to help keep credit flowing to the economy, euro-area watchdogs on the European Central Bank’s supervisory board now want to see how hard lenders will be hit by the fallout from the virus, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private conversations. The ECB could still act quickly should the need arise earlier, they said.
Hong Kong Limits on Public Gatherings to Continue (3:33 p.m. HK)
Hong Kong will extend social-distancing measures, despite objections from pro-democracy groups that a ban on large gatherings was being used to suppress protests. Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan confirmed in a briefing Tuesday afternoon that the city would extend restrictions, including a ban on gatherings of more than eight people, for another two weeks until June 4.
Earlier, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Hong Kong needed to “remain vigilant” after new coronavirus infections broke a 23-day streak without local cases. She denied a desire to prevent gatherings, such as an annual June 4 vigil commemorating the 1989 crackdown on Tiananmen Square activists, weighed on the decision.
“There’s no political consideration at all on certain anniversaries or political gatherings and so on,” Lam told reporters before a regular meeting of her Executive Council advisory panel. “Our only consideration is public safety and public health concerns.
Spain Will Work To Improve German, French Proposal (3:29 p.m. HK)
The proposal from Germany and France for a 500 billion euro aid package “is a truly important agreement,” Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said. “It’s an important step in the right direction,” and is aligned with what Spain and Italy have been requesting, Calvino said.
“It is important that the four main countries in the union be in agreement and have a shared vision on how to overcome the crisis” but the proposal still needs wider support and “we will work to improve” it, she said. Germany and France on Monday agreed to support the package, which would be funded by additional borrowing by the EU and would make grants to member states hardest hit by the virus.
Indian Cases Pass 100,000 (2:11 p.m. HK)
India’s infections are rising at the fastest pace in Asia, just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi further relaxed a nationwide lockdown to boost economic activities. Infections in the South Asian nation of 1.3 billion people were at 100,328, including 3,156 deaths, as of Tuesday. As many as 5,242 new cases were added on Tuesday.
India is now among the nations worst hit by the epidemic, with a 28% increase in cases since last week. Neighbor and nuclear rival Pakistan has 42,125 cases including 903 deaths. Its cases increased by 19% over the same period.
U.K. Jobless Claims Surge (2:10 p.m. HK)
The number of Britons seeking jobless benefits spiked the most on record last month as the lockdown sent shock waves through the U.K. economy. Jobless claims rose 856,500 to more than 2 million in April, the Office for National Statistics said. The claimant count rate climbed to 5.8%, the highest in more than two decades.
Europe Lockdowns Pummel Car Sales (2 p.m. HK)
European car sales dropped the most on record after the coronavirus halted production and closed dealerships from Spain to Germany. Passenger vehicle registrations in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association and the U.K. fell 78% year-over-year. Companies sold just 292,182 cars -- the lowest number since data-gathering began in 1990.
China Mulls Targeting Australia (1:47 p.m. HK)
Australian exports of wine, seafood, oatmeal, fruit and dairy are in danger of being targeted by China if Beijing decides to escalate a row over Canberra’s calls for an investigation into the origin of Covid-19, according to people familiar with the matter.
Chinese officials have compiled a list of potential goods that it could target by implementing stricter quality checks, anti-dumping probes or tariffs, adding steps to or delaying customs clearances, or using state media to encourage consumer boycotts, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private.
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2020-05-19 14:27:00Z
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