(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration is planning a Manhattan Project-style program to drastically cut the time it takes to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Gilead Sciences Inc. said its experimental treatment remdesivir helped patients recover faster, sending U.S. stocks higher. Asia stocks rose on Thursday.In an Oval Office interview with Reuters published Wednesday night, Trump said he thinks that China is determined to see him lose the November election based on Beijing’s response to the coronavirus and he was considering various ways to punish the Chinese government.U.S. economic data showed the country’s record-long expansion is over, with a recession under way. The first official gauge for China’s economy in April showed the manufacturing sector moderated, indicating the recovery from a first-quarter slump will be prolonged as the spread of the coronavirus hits global demand. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament the economy was facing a difficult situation that’s unprecedented.Key DevelopmentsVirus Tracker:...
(Bloomberg) -- Oil advanced for a second day on signs fuel consumption is starting to recover in the world’s biggest economies, while global production cuts also begin to offset the demand destruction caused by the coronavirus.Futures in New York rose around 8% to above $16 a barrel. They surged by more than a fifth of their value on Wednesday as Energy Information Administration data showed a surprise drop in American gasoline stockpiles and a jump in demand. In China, traffic is returning to the streets, supporting a boost in fuel consumption and refinery processing rates.On the supply side, U.S. output will fall by 2 million barrels a day in May compared with March and the price of crude has likely bottomed out, according to the head of trading house Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. Russia also flagged that its production would fall by around a fifth.Despite the indications of a tentative rebound...
Some biotech stocks have been on fire during these COVID-19 driven times. Hardly a surprise, as these companies are at the forefront of finding a solution to the pandemic and bringing viable treatments, vaccines or adequate tests to market. Case in point: Vaccine maker BioNTech (BNTX), which has been mooted as the provider of a possible coronavirus vaccine, and has seen its shares rising 45% year-to-date.Yet, despite liking the company’s vaccine program, Project Lightspeed, JPMorgan’s Cory Kasimov believes the current valuation is just about right.Kasimov said, “We continue to view BNTX as a potentially disruptive company with access to multiple next gen platforms (especially within the field of oncology), but at this point we hesitate to assign more COVID-19 related value beyond what the market has already applied via platform validation/sentiment boost (and uncertain economics).”Kasimov reiterates a Neutral rating on BioNTech shares along with a $33 price target, which implies 33%...
(Bloomberg) -- Oil advanced for a second day on signs that global production cuts are beginning to offset the demand destruction caused by the coronavirus.Futures in New York rose around 5% toward $16 a barrel after surging by more than a fifth of their value on Wednesday. Output from the U.S. will fall by 2 million barrels a day in May compared with March and the price of crude has likely bottomed out, the head of trading house Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. said.There were also some positive signs in Energy Information Administration data released Wednesday, which showed a surprise drop in American gasoline stockpiles and a jump in demand. In China, traffic is returning to the streets, supporting a boost in fuel consumption and refinery processing rates.Despite the indications of a tentative rebound in demand, there’s still a massive global glut of oil that will need to be cleared before there...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk assailed the social distancing measures in place over the past several weeks in the electric car-maker’s home state of California and across the country, which led to a weeks-long closure at the company’s flagship Fremont factory....
