Spot gold was down 0.2% to $1,732.39 per ounce by 0329 GMT, after hitting its highest level since June 2 at $1,739.68 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures climbed 1.2% to $1,741.80. On Wednesday, spot gold prices rose 1.3%, their biggest daily percentage rise in more than a month, after the Fed said it would be a long road to recovery from the coronavirus-induced slump....
(Bloomberg) -- Global stocks retreated Thursday amid fears of a second wave of the coronavirus in the U.S. and overnight caution from the Federal Reserve.Japanese shares led Asian equities lower, while U.S. and European futures slid. Losses accelerated after data showed coronavirus cases surpassing 2 million in the U.S., with hospitalizations jumping in Texas. Treasuries consolidated gains made in the wake of the Fed decision, which featured fresh projections including an outlook for no interest-rate hikes through 2022. The dollar rebounded and the yen pushed higher.Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank had a briefing on yield-curve control, amid expectations from some economists that the Fed will follow Australia and Japan in adopting such a tool.Still, the Nasdaq Composite closed at a record high Wednesday. Global equities remain up about 40% from their March lows as central-bank asset purchases and unprecedented stimulus sparked demand for risk assets. Treasury Secretary Steve...
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) will begin the human clinical trials of its novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine in July, the company announced Wednesday.What Happened The human trials of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine were earlier expected to begin in September.The pharmaceutical company said 1045 volunteers, in the age groups of 18 to 55 and above 65, will participate in the phase 1/2 clinical trials, which will evaluate the safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate."Based on the strength of the preclinical data we have seen so far and interactions with the regulatory authorities, we have been able to further accelerate the clinical development of our investigational SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, Ad26.COV2-S, recombinant," Johnson & Johnson Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels said in a statement.Why It Matters The New Jersey-based company's vaccine is one of the five candidates considered by President Donald Trump's "Operation Warp Speed" as most likely to get regulatory...
(Bloomberg) -- The Hong Kong arm of China’s biggest asset manager is amassing cash and building up short positions in a bet that the U.S.-China power games will escalate ahead of the American election later this year.The market hasn’t fully accounted for the “extreme steps” that President Donald Trump might take in an attempt to shore up flagging poll numbers, said Gan Tian, chief investment officer of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Ltd., who oversees almost $400 million in hedge fund assets.“It could be to challenge China in South China Sea, it could be a military or diplomatic alliance with Taiwan that crosses the red line, or worse,” Gan said in a phone interview from Hong Kong. “If that happens it would ripple through the financial market immediately.”Tension is building between China and the U.S. after a three-year trade dispute. Politicians in Washington are lashing out over the coronavirus outbreak, China’s...
Zoom Video Communications temporarily shut the account belonging to a group of U.S.-based Chinese activists after they held an event to commemorate the 31st anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown, the activists said on Thursday. Humanitarian China said the event they held on May 31 was hosted by a paid account and was joined by over 250 people worldwide via video-conferencing platform Zoom, while more than 4,000 streamed it on social media, many of whom were from China. Zoom confirmed the U.S.-based account had been suspended but had now been reactivated....
