Total Covid-19 cases
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26,850,869Deaths
873,441PizzaExpress restructuring puts 1,100 jobs at risk
Daniel Thomas in London
As many as 1,100 jobs will be lost after PizzaExpress’ landlords approved a key part of its corporate restructuring that will close 73 branches as the pizza chain is forced into drastic action to survive the coronavirus pandemic.
PizzaExpress is set to be taken over by banks and funds that own its debt through a restructuring of its finances, which will end the ownership of the UK business by Chinese owner Hony Capital after more than five years.
On Monday, PizzaExpress said a key part of this process had been approved by its creditors, with nine in 10 voting to agree to a company voluntary arrangement. A majority of landlords voted in favour of the CVA, which the group said would “strengthen the business for the future”.
It added:
The successful vote unlocks the company’s ability to actively address the challenges brought by COVID-19, securing over 9,000 jobs in the UK.
Regrettably, the CVA proposes the closure of 73 restaurants, putting 1,100 jobs at risk.
The closures will affect about a fifth on its UK estate. About 355 PizzaExpress restaurants have reopened in the UK after being forced to shut in the pandemic, with more 30 scheduled to reopen in the coming weeks.
Under the plans for a debt for equity swap among the senior holders of its bonds, Hony will retain control of its mainland Chinese branches. The wider restructuring plans are still being worked on, with a dual track sales process also underway for a buyer of the UK operations alongside the debt restructuring negotiations.
UK house prices rise at fastest pace in four years, says Halifax
Valentina Romei in London
British house prices rose at their fastest pace since late 2016 last month, hitting a record high following tax cuts on purchases and the release of pent-up demand as social distancing rules were eased.
UK house prices rose 5.2 per cent in August from the same month last year, according to Halifax, hitting an average of £245,700, which was the highest nominal price recorded by the lender’s survey. Compared with July, prices rose 1.6 per cent.
The Halifax figures mirror a similar survey last week from Nationwide Building Society, which showed prices rising at their swiftest clip in 16 years.
The Nationwide Building Society reported on Wednesday that UK house prices rose 2 per cent in nominal terms, despite the country entering its deepest recession on record in the second quarter.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has raised the threshold at which home buyers pay stamp duty from £300,000 to £500,000, stimulating demand for larger properties.
Yet, economists warn that the mini-boom in house prices is threatened by a possible spike in unemployment as the government support scheme ends in autumn and as the economic recovery is set to slow after a strong third quarter.
Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of Garrington Property Finders, a buying agent, said:
Rural and coastal homes are proving especially popular, with estate agents even reporting bidding wars among would-be buyers.
In some areas, such stiff competition is pushing up prices at a rate which is clearly unsustainable.
Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance, added:
Many buyers have been leaving London for surrounding areas where their money is also going that bit further, especially when you factor in the stamp duty incentive.
Hochschild expects to mine less silver and gold than initially forecast
Neil Hume in London
Hochschild Mining has issued new production forecasts after the precious metals miner was forced to suspend guidance in April as Covid-19 ripped through South America.
The FTSE 250 gold and silver miner operates three underground mines, two in southern Peru and one in Argentina. Due to mine closures the company, which is headquartered in Lima, expects to mine 24-25m ounces of silver this year and 280,000-290,000 ounces of gold.
When it first set targets for the year in November, the figures were 35m for silver and 432,000 of gold.
Hochschild flagged higher costs although its flagship Inmaculada in Peru mine is back running at full capacity.
Sustaining costs will be $14.5-$15.0 for silver and $1,250-$1,290 per gold in 2020, up from $12.5-$12.9 and $1,015-$1,045 previously, the company said on Monday.
Shares in Hochschild were up 3.2 per cent at 240p in early trading with the revised guidance broadly in line with market expectations.
European equities rise but sterling falls sharply on Brexit fears
Harry Dempsey in London
European stocks started the week on the front foot in a continuation of shaky trading patterns following last week’s global markets sell-off.
The continent’s benchmark Stoxx 600 was up 0.6 per cent in early dealings, while London’s FTSE 100 added 0.7 per cent.
The rise came even as German industrial production increased in July less than economists had expected and amid signs that a second wave is likely to hold back the economic recovery on the continent.
Investors are awaiting a European Central Bank monetary policy meeting on Thursday, where they may gather clues on any firepower the central bank plans to unleash to support the eurozone economy.
Sterling fell sharply against the euro, shedding 0.5 per cent to €1.1166, as fears mount that a trade agreement between the UK and the EU will be scuppered if Boris Johnson’s cabinet goes through with plans to override the withdrawal agreement.
US markets are closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday but futures for the benchmark S&P 500 were down 0.6 per cent.
AB Foods expects Primark 2020 profit 'at top end' of its forecasts
Jonathan Eley in London
Full-year profits at Primark will be “at least at the top end” of the company’s forecast £300m-350m range after a recovery in trading as stores reopened.
Parent company Associated British Foods said Primark would now need to carry over only around £150m worth of stock into next year and expects a “significant reduction” in an exceptional charge of £284m previously booked against surplus inventory.
It will benefit from a recent weakening of the dollar, as this will make clothing sourced from Far Eastern suppliers cheaper in sterling and euro terms.
“The average basket size was initially significantly higher than last year, reflecting some pent-up demand, and while this outperformance has reduced in recent weeks it remains higher than a year ago,” the company said in a statement, though it added that transaction numbers have increased.
However, sales growth continues to be held back by a slower recovery in trading at city centre destination stores which are more dependent on tourist traffic.
German industrial rebound runs out of steam
Martin Arnold in Frankfurt
German industrial production rose less than economists had expected in July, raising questions about whether the nascent recovery in the eurozone’s pandemic-stricken economy has run out of steam.
The 1.2 per cent rise in German industrial output in July reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Monday undershot economists’ consensus expectations for a 4.8 per cent increase, according to a poll by Reuters.
Top policymakers at the European Central Bank, which meets this week to discuss monetary policy, are concerned that the recent appreciation of the euro could weigh on eurozone exports and drive down import prices, hampering the recovery.
The Federal Statistical Office upgraded its initial figure for industrial production in June slightly to 9.3 per cent. But it said the manufacturing sector’s output in July remained 10 per cent below the level of a year ago.
Production in the German carmaking sector rose 6.9 per cent in July from the previous month, but it was still 15 per cent below the pre-pandemic levels from February.
Overall German capital goods production rose 2.1 per cent, while intermediate goods production was up 4 per cent and consumer goods increased 1.8 per cent. But the country’s construction output was down 4.3 per cent while energy production also dipped.
Separate data published on Friday showed that German factory orders fell below forecasts in July, rising only 2.8 per cent, compared with economists’ consensus expectations for a 5 per cent increase.
Indian cities reopen bars despite rising coronavirus cases
Benjamin Parkin in New Delhi
Bars and pubs across several large Indian cities are gradually reopening in the latest easing of lockdown measures, even as the country's coronavirus crisis continues to escalate.
Southern Indian tech hub Bangalore, home to more than 10m people, allowed drinking venues to reopen last week.
Bangalore is known as India's pub capital for the array of swish bars and breweries that serve the city's technology workers, but owners reported limited activity as the outbreak continued to keep them away.
The city is currently detecting about 6,000 cases a day.
“All these establishments looked fancy from the outside, but we were burning a hole in our pockets," Niveditha D, a partner at Rever Hospitality, which runs a Bangalore bar, told the Mint newspaper.
In Delhi, bars are due to reopen this week while they remain shut in India’s hardest hit city, Mumbai.
The government banned all alcohol sales nationwide when India first went into lockdown in March, though liquor shops have largely reopened.
India now has the world’s second highest coronavirus caseload at 4.2m, overtaking Brazil this week.
But the brutal economic hit from the lockdown has prompted authorities to move ahead with reopening plans even as the public health situation continues to worsen.
Asia youth ‘losing jobs at faster rate’ than older workers
George Russell in Hong Kong
People aged 15 to 24 years old are losing jobs in the Asia-Pacific region at a faster rate than those over the age of 25 during the pandemic, research by the Asian Development Bank has found.
Young workers are more likely than adults to experience outright job loss than furloughs or reductions in working hours, the study, released on Monday, also found.
A higher share of youth workers (47 per cent) than over-25s (39 per cent) are employed in the four sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic-induced collapse in economic activity: wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, real estate and business activities, and accommodation and food services.
ADB researchers Helen Osborne, Paul Vandenberg and Chris Morris found that Covid-19 is "exacerbating entrenched vulnerabilities". Young women workers, they note, are overrepresented in three of the four most adversely affected sectors, particularly in hospitality and food and beverage services.
"Their precarious position in the labour market is heightened by an increase in their already high share of unpaid household and care work due to business and school closures," the ADB team found.
The researchers estimated youth job losses of 9.9m to 14.8m full-time equivalents across 13 Asia-Pacific economies in 2020. "The youth unemployment rate is expected to rise in all 13 economies compared with 2019," they wrote.
Youth jobless rates could range from 10.8 per cent in Vietnam to 32.5 per cent in India by the end of the year, the team concluded.
Emirates to restore full salaries from October
Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Emirates will restore full salaries from October in a bid to retain staff, but the Dubai-based airline also warned of further cost-cutting on the outlook for a “slower recovery”.
In a memo to employees, the government-owned carrier thanked staff for their sacrifice in helping the airline to reduce costs “through the worst turbulence in our history”.
Thousands of staff, including hundreds of pilots, have been made redundant, while much of the workforce took a 50 per cent pay cut in April amid the global travel slump caused by the pandemic.
“This does not mean we are out of the woods – there are many challenges ahead in an environment of considerable uncertainty, and we will need to respond accordingly and decisively,” wrote Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates’ chairman and chief executive.
The “unprecedented financial predicament” would lead to more “difficult decisions”, said Sheikh Ahmed, pictured on the side of an Emirates Airbus A380.
Allowances, which have not been reviewed since 2014, would be adjusted from October 1 after a benchmarking exercise within the airline industry, he added. Emirates staff benefit from generous housing and schooling subsidies.
Dubai’s finance department is raising about $2bn in bonds as it seeks to bolster state coffers. The bond prospectus shows that the government has provided about $2bn in aid for the airline, which had to ground most of its fleet in March.
Asia stocks slip following Wall Street sell-off
Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong
Shares across Asia Pacific struggled to find momentum on Monday following last week’s global markets sell-off.
China’s CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks shed 0.3 per cent and Japan’s Topix fell 0.2 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were flat.
Data on Monday showed that Chinese exports grew by more than analysts’ expectations in August, pushing the country’s trade surplus to its highest level this year, helping local stocks to trim steeper losses earlier in the session.
However, some cautioned that the momentum may not last as demand fades for exports of coronavirus-related medical equipment.
“While exports will continue to benefit from the recovery in global demand, the forthcoming slowdown in shipments of Covid-19 related goods means that further upside [for exports growth] is probably limited,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.
Analysts have warned that a full recovery from the health crisis remains a long way off despite data on Friday showing that the world’s largest economy added 1.4m jobs in August.
Oil dropped after Saudi Aramco said on Sunday that it would cut prices on crude shipments to Asia. Brent, the international benchmark, fell 1 per cent to $42.25 per barrel while US marker West Texas Intermediate declined 1.2 per cent to $39.31 per barrel.
A Portal for the Planet: Covid-19 and climate change
Watch the launch of the new short film based on an Arundhati Roy essay for the Financial Times on how the pandemic offers a portal for change. Richard Curtis and Rutger Bregman discuss the chances of coronavirus helping the fight against climate change.
India now has world’s 2nd-largest Covid-19 caseload
Amy Kazmin in New Delhi
India has overtaken Brazil for the grim status as the country with the world’s second-highest total number of confirmed coronavirus infections, after it detected a record 90,000-plus new cases on Saturday, and then again on Sunday.
India has now confirmed coronavirus infections in more than 4.2m people, more than any other country except the US with 6.4m confirmed cases.
Brazil has about 4.1m confirmed cases, but is adding just over a third of the new infections being detected every day in India.
At least 71,680 people are known to have died in India so far.
However, experts believe this understates the true magnitude of the pandemic’s death toll, as some coronavirus deaths are being attributed to other factors, while early in the pandemic many died without being tested.
India detected more than 90,000 cases on Saturday, and more than 91,700 on Sunday, as the government authorities have set a goal of 1m tests per day.
India has been detecting more new cases than any country in the world since mid-August, with the daily tally of new cases rising steadily over the period. It is now detecting more new cases each day than the US did at the peak of its pandemic.
India is pushing ahead with opening up its economy and services. This week, urban metros, suspended since late March, are resuming services despite concerns about a further surge of cases and consequent strain on the public health system.
Home antibody tests for Covid-19 go back on sale in UK
Anna Gross in London
Coronavirus antibody tests designed for use at home are back on sale in the UK following months of wrangling over their regulatory approval and a temporary ban by the government in May.
The non-profit Testing For All has launched an at-home antibody testing kit for £39 using a finger-prick sampling kit manufactured by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.
Diagnostics company Better2Know is also selling an at-home test for £139, manufactured by UK pharmaceutical company Virus Respiratory Research. Both test manufacturers validated their finger-prick tests — used to determine if Covid-19 antibodies are present in an individual’s bloodstream and whether or not they have had the virus — in August.
Once heralded by Boris Johnson as a “game-changer” in efforts to lift lockdown measures in the UK, the number of antibody tests being issued by the government fell to its lowest level since the beginning of the crisis, from more than 40,000 a day in June to 5,000 a day in August.
In May, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency asked providers of finger-prick antibody tests to temporarily stop selling them “until home collection of this sample type has been properly assessed and validated”.
Read more here
Nicolas Ghesquière on fashion past, present and future
Jo Ellison in London
Few of the 800 guests will have realised, on walking into the Louis Vuitton show space at the Louvre on March 3 that they themselves might be participants in a strange historic moment.
The catwalk show marked the end of a febrile, nervy season that continued to press forward even while the spectre of the pandemic inexorably closed in. An odd blend of anticipation and relief hung in the air.
In the weeks that followed, the fashion industry entered a state of crisis, with the pandemic upending everything from supply chains to distribution, manufacture to design.
Read more here
China’s August exports beat expectations
Thomas Hale in Hong Kong
China’s exports beat expectations in August as the country’s early recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continues to boost its trade performance.
Exports rose 9.5 per cent in August in dollar terms, compared with the same month last year – the highest increase of any month this year.
The data reflect continual improvement in Chinese exports over recent months, which have been supported by demand for electronics and medical equipment at a time when global trade has struggled.
The country’s exports had previously climbed 7.2 per cent in July, and just 0.5 per cent in June after a severe contraction earlier this year.
The data has been closely watched as a signal of the recovery of global demand following the spread of the coronavirus.
It also reflects an ongoing recovery in the Chinese economy, which returned to growth in the second quarter at a time when new cases of the coronavirus slowed to a trickle.
Imports fell 2.1 per cent in August in dollar terms. China’s trade surplus was $58.93bn in the month.
Asian stocks creep higher after Wall St sell-off
Hudson Lockett in Hong Kong
Shares across Asia Pacific inched higher in a tentative sign that a global markets sell-off that began last week may be easing.
China’s CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks rose 0.3 per cent in early trading on Monday while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1 per cent.
Futures markets pointed to a rise of 1.3 per cent for London’s FTSE 100 when trading begins later. US markets are closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday but futures for the benchmark S&P 500 were down 0.2 per cent.
The gains in Asian trading came on the heels of a choppy week for Wall Street. The tech-focused Nasdaq closed 1.3 per cent lower on Friday after dropping as much as 5 per cent during the session, while the broader S&P 500 fell 0.8 per cent.
That sell-off came as US investors grappled with a growing list of concerns including high valuations, an uncertain economic recovery from coronavirus, US-China tensions and the upcoming presidential election.
Analysts have warned that a full recovery from the health crisis remains a long way off, despite data on Friday showing that the world’s largest economy added 1.4m jobs in August.
“While a global economic recovery is under way, we may need to wait until [the fourth quarter] to be sure that momentum is being maintained,” analysts from Pictet Wealth Management wrote on Monday.
“The concentration of market performance in a limited number of technology and healthcare stocks is feeding uncertainty, compounded by continued China-US tensions,” they added.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Topix index slipped 0.2 per cent on Monday. The benchmark was led lower by SoftBank, which shed more than 6 per cent after it was revealed on Friday that the Japanese conglomerate had spent billions of dollars snapping up stock options on individual US tech shares.
SMIC’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell as much as 17.8 per cent after Reuters reported that the Trump administration was considering adding the Chinese chipmaker to a trade blacklist.
Individual investors pile into Indian equities
Benjamin Parkin in New Delhi
Millions of Indians have piled into the country’s stock market, helping sustain a strong rebound since the depths of March but raising concerns about the risks of losses as the coronavirus crisis worsens.
The number of individual investor accounts rose 20 per cent from the start of the year to 24m in July, according to Indian securities depository CDSL, which tracks Asia’s fourth-biggest stock market by capitalisation after mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan.
In India, which had one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, flows into the equity market were heightened by an inability to access more traditional investments such as physical gold or real estate, while falling interest rates made safer debt investments less attractive.
Read more here
Australia signs $1.25bn vaccine supply agreement
Jamie Smyth in Sydney
Australia has signed a $1.25bn draft agreement with pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and CSL to supply and manufacture 85m doses of two separate Covid-19 vaccines from early next year, the government said on Monday.
The agreement is contingent on clinical trials proving the two vaccines – one under development by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca and the second by the University of Queensland and CSL – are successful.
Canberra plans to provide the vaccine free of charge to its citizens and is hopeful that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate could become available as early as January 2021.
“There are no guarantees that these vaccines will prove successful, however the agreement puts Australians at the top of the queue, if our medical experts give the vaccines the green light,” said Greg Hunt, Australia’s health minister.
Canberra has backed away from an initial proposal to make vaccination against Covid-19 “as mandatory as possible”, saying immunisation will not be mandatory.
It has also pledged to ensure early access to vaccines for Pacific nations and Australia’s partners in south-east Asia.
Most of the vaccines will be manufactured in Melbourne under an agreement with CSL, shares of which opened up 2 per cent at A$285 (US$208) on the ASX.
The challenges of moving a business out of crisis mode
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson in New York
The upheavals wrought by the coronavirus pandemic have inevitably defined the year since the former head of Accenture’s North American operations became the 500,000-person global consultancy’s first female chief executive.
But even though Accenture has had a better crisis than many, with its stock outperforming as it found pockets of growth in the turbulence, she is impatient to move beyond it.
“We have to quickly move to normalising,” she insists. The challenge, though, is “finding the clarity and the vision at a time when your leadership team can’t get in a room”.
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Former Cook Islands prime minister dies of Covid-19
George Russell in Hong Kong
One of the two Covid-19 deaths recorded in New Zealand at the weekend was a former prime minister of the Cook Islands.
Joe Williams, a retired doctor, died in Auckland City Hospital at the age of 86 after nearly a month of treatment.
He was leader of the semi-independent South Pacific archipelago for several months in 1999.
“Dr Williams was seen as a leading figure in the Cook Islands medical community and he will be sadly missed,” said Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s director-general of health.
So far there have been 24 fatal cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
Afterpay prospers from boom in online sales
Jamie Smyth in Sydney
When Covid-19 struck the world economy investors initially punished Afterpay, a “buy now, pay later” fintech claiming to change how people shop.
But six months on, the Melbourne-based company is confounding critics by capitalising on surging ecommerce, rapid growth in the US and a shift away from credit cards.
Afterpay doubled its customer numbers to 10m in the US, UK and Australia in the year to end of June. Last month it began a push into Canada, Singapore and southern Europe, as it rushes to capture market share before a growing band of competitors can catch up.
Read more here
South Korea’s virus resurgence eases to near 3-week low
Edward White and Kang Buseong
The rate of new coronavirus infections in South Korea fell to near a three-week low on Monday following weeks of tighter social distancing and travel restrictions in Seoul.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control reported 119 new cases, the lowest daily increase since mid-August, in the latest sign of progress in combatting the country’s worst outbreak in six months.
Health officials have remained cautious over the potential for future virus clusters emerging.
The resurgence of local Covid-19 transmission in August has been mostly attributed to conservative religious groups who flouted distancing guidelines.
Others, including health experts, have blamed government complacency after much international praise for the country’s high-tech contact-tracing and mass testing systems.
In response to the virus the government in Seoul has launched unprecedented stimulus measures totalling around $232.8bn, including $10.2bn in emergency cash handouts to households.
The latest outbreak has heaped fresh pressure on domestic consumption in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy over recent weeks.
On Sunday, Seoul unveiled a fourth supplementary budget – the first time it has done so since 1961 – with around $5.9bn of new spending, including a second round of cash handouts for the worst-hit parts of the economy.
Women-run funds outperform amid Covid-19 swings
Chris Flood in London
All-women and mixed-gender US fund teams outperformed all-male portfolio management teams so far this year, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis that raises fresh questions about the investment industry’s progress in addressing its gender diversity problems.
Women led funds remain a rarity across the investment industry in spite of a growing body of evidence that more diverse teams produce better results. Just 14 of the 496 US funds analysed were run by all women teams.
“Even after adjusting for risk, female managed funds outperformed their male counterparts amid the coronavirus-related market swings,” said David Kostin, Goldman Sachs’ chief US equity strategist.
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Ultra-orthodox force Israel lockdown cancellation
Mehul Srivastava in Tel Aviv
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu buckled under pressure from his ultra-orthodox coalition allies and cancelled a targeted lockdown of their segregated cities, even as Israel's death toll from the coronavirus passed the grim milestone of a thousand deaths.
The lockdown of some two dozen cities, mostly ultra-orthodox and Arab majority, was designed to dislodge Israel's ranking from the worst country in the world for new infections, on a per capita basis. The country has averaged 2000 new infections per day for weeks, with a leap to 3,000 on Thursday night.
Instead, as the mayors of ultra-orthodox towns and cities threatened to defy the lockdown orders, Mr Netanyahu cancelled a scheduled cabinet vote and instead instituted a night-time curfew. There is currently no scientific evidence that night-time curfews have any impact on halting the virus.
"We will not forget who is the man who, time and again, signed onto turning us into disease vectors and enemies of the people through selective punishment of tens of thousands of families," four mayors of ultra-orthodox towns said in an open letter.
They claimed Mr Netanyahu had turned the community, which makes up a tenth of Israel's population, into a "punching-bag."
Ultra-orthodox schoolgirls wear face masks as they walk along a street in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv
Israel's coronavirus tsar, Ronni Gamzu, complained that he was facing "organised artillery designed to divert my attention from professional decisions", and opposition lawmakers said Mr Netanyahu's decision would force the entire country into a crippling lockdown instead.
Mr Netanyahu's coalition depends on unwavering support from the devoutly religious ultra-orthodox community, which resisted prior lockdowns until the army was deployed to quell regular gatherings at synagogues and yeshivas in April. The current curfew will leave both synagogues and yeshivas open.
Some 70 per cent of cases in Israel at that time were from the ultra-othodox community, which tends to be poorer than the average population, forcing large families into small apartments in crowded cities.
Slower testing over the sabbath yielded 1,500 new infections, a positive rate of about 10 per cent. Israel has recorded more than 130,000 infections since the beginning of the pandemic.
US reports 34,000 new coronavirus cases
Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong
Almost 34,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the US on Sunday, with 449 new deaths linked to the virus, as officials warned against large gatherings over the holiday weekend.
The figures for Sunday, which are usually lower than for weekdays, came in below the previous day’s reading of 52,000 cases and 998 deaths, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
Gavin Newsom, California governor, warned residents over the weekend to not allow the Labor Day weekend to undo recent efforts to suppress the virus.
“Our average caseload is down. Our positivity rate is under 5 per cent. Our hospital and ICU rates are down by nearly 25 per cent. One weekend can change all of that.” he said on Twitter.
Asia-Pacific stocks dip, oil falls
Alice Woodhouse in Hong Kong
Asia-Pacific stocks edged lower at the start of a new week and oil prices fell as Saudi Arabia cut prices.
In Japan, the Topix was down 0.2 per cent, the Kospi in South Korea also shed 0.2 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1 per cent.
Investors will be watching for China trade figures later this morning for clues on the recovery from the pandemic.
On Friday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.3 per cent as a tech rout pushed the index to its worst week since March.
The S&P 500 closed down 0.8 per cent as a US employment report met expectations.
Oil prices fell amid weak demand and after Saudi Arabia cut prices for Asia and the US.
Brent crude, the international benchmark was down 2.3 per cent at $41.70 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate shed 2.2 per cent to $38.80.
New York's hospital admission rate at 6-month low
George Russell in Hong Kong
New York state's number of coronavirus inpatients has dropped to 410, the lowest number of people in hospital since March 16.
The governor, Andrew Cuomo, said on Sunday the state's Covid-19 infection rate has been less than 1 per cent for 30 consecutive days.
"We know based on experience that an incremental, data-driven reopening is the best way to protect the health and safety of all New Yorkers," Mr Cuomo said in a statement.
He said the current long weekend to mark Labor Day — the unofficial end of the US summer — would be a challenge.
"Our infection rate has been below 1 percent for 30 days, and New Yorkers can help us keep that streak going by wearing masks, socially distancing and washing their hands," Mr Cuomo said.
"Our actions today determine the rate of infection tomorrow, so as the Labor Day weekend continues, I urge everyone to be smart so we don't see a spike in the weeks ahead."
Travel curbs threaten shipping lanes and crew
Jamie Smyth in Sydney and Thomas Hale in Hong Kong
The closure of international borders, flight caps and quarantine procedures owing to Covid-19 pose a grave threat to global shipping supply chains and the welfare of seafarers, the head of Australia’s maritime safety authority has warned.
Mick Finley, chief executive of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said there was increasing risk shipping could “grind to a halt” or serious accidents occur because of the extreme pressure on crew, some of whom have not set foot on land for 17 months.
“If we don’t deal with this problem then eventually they [seafarers] could down tools. So we have to keep on top of it and we have to keep working on it,” he told the Financial Times.
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Pandemic ‘undermines Asia-Pacific food security’
George Russell in Hong Kong
The coronavirus pandemic has reversed Asia-Pacific efforts to curb hunger and malnutrition, the UN food agency was told at the weekend.
Asia-Pacific countries would have to redouble efforts to provide food security after the damage caused by Covid-19 and the ongoing effects of chronic undernourishment.
More than 40 member countries of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization virtually attended a four-day regional conference hosted by the Bhutan government.
The agency has estimated that the pandemic could cause malnutrition to rise by a third to 330m people in South Asia alone over the next 10 years.
"While great strides had been made to reduce poverty and hunger by so many countries, Covid-19 has upended the momentum,” said Yeshey Penjor, Bhutan’s agriculture and forests minister.
FAO director-general Qu Dongyu said the disruption caused by Covid-19 would prompt digital solutions to issues caused by locked-down communications and a halt to movement of workers.
“We have brilliant minds... that will lead us through the challenges presented by COVID-19 and help us conquer malnutrition and poverty,” Mr Qu said.
Food supply chains increasingly benefit from innovation such as drones, satellite imagery, big data and blockchain."Big data, a digital economy and mobile technology will help producers achieve that." Mr Qu said.
UK uni staff face huge pension contribution jump
Josephine Cumbo in London
UK universities and thousands of their staff face increased annual pension costs totalling billions of pounds under proposals to plug an estimated £18bn deficit in the sector’s main retirement scheme.
The £67bn Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK’s largest private-sector pension fund, will on Monday lay out a range of options to reduce the burgeoning deficit, which was £3.6bn in 2018.
The proposals could see the pension bill for universities already hard hit by coronavirus disruption more than double from the current £1.7bn per year, with a typical lecturer forced to pay thousands more for the same pension benefits.
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Two thirds of US voters worry vaccine would be rushed
George Russell in Hong Kong
Nearly two-thirds of US voters fear that a Covid-19 vaccine introduced as early as this year would be too rushed to be safe, a poll has found.
Only 21 per cent of voters said they would be vaccinated as soon as possible if a free vaccine was available, down from 32 per cent in late July, the YouGov poll released on Sunday showed.
The poll, commissioned by CBS News, also found that trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the main US pandemic-fighting agency, has plunged in the past six months.
In March, 86 per cent of voters trusted the CDC for accurate information about coronavirus. That figure fell to 54 per cent in September.
YouGov polled 2,493 voters from September 2-4.
Victoria unveils gradual roadmap to reopening economy
George Russell in Hong Kong
The Australian state of Victoria unveiled on Sunday what it hoped was a gradual return to normality after months of severe movement restrictions and economic malaise due to a second wave of coronavirus.
The country’s second-most populous state of 6.4m reported 41 new cases on Monday after 63 new cases on Sunday and 76 new cases on Saturday.
The state government said it was possible that restrictions would end early if numbers continued to decline, but said a cautious attitude would prevail.
“If we run to open up we won’t be able to for long,” premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday. “I want all of us to stay the course so we can all have something approaching a normal Christmas.”
In Melbourne, the state capital, residents will face another two weeks of severe restrictions until September 28. A curfew would be shortened by one hour from 9pm to 5am.
Mr Andrews, pictured, said only two people, or a household, would be allowed to gather outside and only for a limit of two hours a day.
If the new case daily average remains below 50, Melbourne restrictions would be further relaxed from September 28. Gatherings would be increased to five people and some primary schools would open.
Some businesses would also reopen, such as childcare and personal training, with attendance limits.
Further loosening would occur if the new case rate was below five per day by October 26, including allowing personal care services such as hairdressing, and cafes, restaurants and pubs could begin to offer dine-in service.
Mexico’s excess mortality rate rises to 59%
Jude Webber in Mexico City
Mexico reported more than 122,700 more deaths than expected between mid-March and the start of August – an excess mortality rate of 59 per cent – but a fall compared with the level two weeks previously.
The health ministry data – only the second time officials have released excess mortality figures – showed Mexico had been expecting 207,285 deaths in the period but in fact recorded 330,050, giving an excess of 122,765. In July, the health ministry reported an excess mortality of 55 per cent.
The figures, based on data from 24 of Mexico’s 32 states and which represent 85.5 per cent of the population, were released a day after Hugo López-Gatell, health undersecretary, admitted Mexico had been running out of death certificates in some parts of the country amid the pandemic.
As of Sunday night, Mexico confirmed 634,023 cases of Covid-19 and 67,558 deaths but even officials have acknowledged the true figures are several times higher.
The excess mortality rate among Mexicans aged 45-64 was 65 per cent, according to the latest figures, higher than any other age range and more than double the rate of those aged over 65.
Smaller UK firms would struggle with new lockdown
George Russell in Hong Kong
About one in six British small and medium-sized enterprises believe another lockdown would put them out of business, a survey has found.
While 17 per cent of SMEs believe they would stop trading permanently if another lockdown came into effect, another 24 per cent think it would take 12-18 months to recover the money lost during Covid-19.
Another 24 per cent think it would take only 6-12 months, the survey by UK-based small-business insurer Simply Business found.
The poll of more than 500 SME owners found that more than 40 per cent relied more on technology since the pandemic struck.
A quarter said their staff have learnt new skills, 21 per cent said they acquired new customers, and 19 per cent adopted new technologies, such as instant messaging apps, social media, digital payment systems, or online delivery services.
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The UK needs to a successor to its furlough scheme to protect jobs, according to CBI boss Carolyn Fairbairn, who warned that a large number of redundancies were expected this month as companies prepare for wage support to end in October. Dame Carolyn also cautioned against raising corporate taxes.
From virtual watch boutiques to trying out jewellery using augmented reality, ecommerce solutions deployed during lockdown are set to stay after the pandemic, the Financial Times's latest Watches and Jewellery special report reveals. Auction houses broke their own records by switching to online bidding.
After becoming the first city to be subject to a local lockdown following a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, the city of Leicester was also the first to open schools last week. Gulbanu Kader, headteacher at Rushey Mead Academy, described the preparation for reopening as a “rollercoaster ride”.
For the first time in its 120-year history, the Italian label Tod's is being overseen by a single creative force but Walter Chiapponi has his work cut out. Even before the pandemic sent the luxury-goods industry into a tailspin, sales at Tod’s had seen four years of declines.
About a third of an H2O Asset Management fund was invested in illiquid bonds when the French regulator forced its suspension, more than three times higher than a regulatory limit. The illiquid assets held by the Natixis subsidiary became more problematic during March turmoil triggered by the pandemic.
Virgin Atlantic warned it was still fighting for survival as it announced plans to cut more than 1,000 jobs following the completion of its £1.2bn private sector rescue deal. Shai Weiss, its chief executive, told the Financial Times that the airline was “absolutely” still in a battle to secure its future.
Shares in CaixaBank and Bankia rose sharply on Friday after the two Spanish lenders confirmed they were in merger talks, a tie-up that would create the country’s largest domestic bank with assets of more than €650bn. The talks come as the pandemic exacerbates consolidation pressure on retail banks
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