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Oil And Euro Slip, Markets On Edge Over COVID-19 Curbs In Europe


WORLDWIDE: HEADLINES 

Shares of China Evergrande’s EV unit to open higher after $347 mln share placement 

Shares of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group Ltd (0708.HK) are set to open up 4.8% to HK$3.7, after the company raised around $347 million in a share placement. 

The EV unit of embattled property developer China Evergrande’s (3333.HK) issued about 900 million shares at HK$3 apiece through a top-up placement to controlling shareholder Evergrande Health Industry Holdings Ltd. 

Full coverage: REUTERS  

Australian billionaire to help publishers strike content deal with Google, Facebook 

Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s philanthropic organization will help 18 small news publishers in the country collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook (FB.O) to secure licensing deals for the supply of news content. 

Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation on Monday said it would submit an application with the country’s competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), allowing the publishers to bargain without breaching competition laws. 

Forrest, Australia’s richest man, is the chairman and the largest shareholder of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group (FMG.AX). He has a net worth of around A$27.2 billion ($19.7 billion), according to the Australian Financial Review. 

Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google have been required since March to negotiate with Australian outlets for content that drives traffic and advertising to their websites. If they don’t, the government may take over the negotiation. 

Both companies have since struck licensing deals with most of Australia’s main media companies but they have not entered into agreements with many small firms. The federal government is scheduled to begin a review of the law’s effectiveness in March. 

Frontier Technology, an initiative of Minderoo, said it would assist the publishers. 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

WORLDWIDE: FINANCE/MARKETS 

Oil and euro slip, markets on edge over COVID-19 curbs in Europe 

Asian stocks made a soft start to the week on Monday while oil and the euro were under pressure, as the return of COVID-19 restrictions in Europe and talk about hastened tapering from the U.S. Federal Reserve put investors on guard. 

Oil futures skidded about 1% at the open, sending Brent crude and U.S. crude to seven-week lows of $78.05 and $74.76 respectively amid oversupply concerns. 

Australian shares fell 0.4%, led by bank stock losses. Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) was down 0.3% and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was flat. 

“There are question marks over the resilience of Europe and the European economy, exacerbated by protests and infection rates seen over the weekend,” said Rodrigo Catril, a strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney. 

“It’s hard to see the U.S. dollar coming to any harm against that backdrop,” he said, a view further underlined by recent strong U.S. data and hawkish remarks from Fed officials. 

The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.1280, close to a 16-month low. The common currency has been the prime mover in markets over recent sessions as investors wager on Europe’s economy lagging well behind the U.S. recovery. 

Safe-haven assets such as bonds, gold and the yen have also benefited from the recent cautious tone in financial markets. 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

Dollar shines, euro suffers as COVID fears flare over Europe 

The safe-haven U.S. dollar traded close to a 16-month high to the euro on Monday on growing anxiety over the impact of surging COVID-19 infections in Europe, with Austria reimposing a full lockdown and Germany considering following suit. 

The greenback was near its strongest since early October against the riskier Australian and Canadian dollars, with the commodity-linked currencies also pressured by a slump in crude oil. 

The dollar got additional support from bullish comments by Federal Reserve officials Richard Clarida and Christopher Waller on Friday who suggested a faster pace of stimulus tapering may be appropriate amid a quickening recovery and heated inflation. read more 

A more rapid end to tapering raises the possibility of earlier interest-rate increases too. Currently the market is priced for the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to start hiking rates by the middle of next year. 

The dollar index, which gauges the currency against six major peers, traded at 96.065, staying within sight of last week’s 16-month high of 96.266. 

The euro slumped 0.23% to $1.1274, approaching its lowest since July of last year at $1.1250, reached Friday, when it tumbled 0.66%. 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

Oil slumps on prospects of emergency supply releases, Europe COVID-19 surge 

U.S. crude prices dropped in early trade on Monday extending big losses on Friday, after Japan said on the weekend it was considering releasing oil reserves to help dampen prices. 

At the same time, demand concerns are growing as COVID-19 cases surge in Europe. 

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 65 cents, or 0.9%, at $75.25 a barrel at 2327 GMT, after sliding as low as $74.76, the weakest since Oct 1. 

WTI and Brent prices slumped around 3% on Friday. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday signaled he was ready to help counter soaring oil prices following a request from the United States to release oil from its emergency stockpile. 

However, Japanese laws only allow reserves to be tapped if there are supply constraints or natural disasters. 

“We’re proceeding with consideration as to what we can do legally on the premise that Japan will coordinate with the United States and other countries concerned,” Kishida told reporters.  

On the demand side, concerns are growing that renewed COVID-19 curbs could hit demand growth. Germany warned on Friday it may need to move to a full lockdown after Austria said it would reimpose strict measures to tackle rising infections. 

Full coverage: REUTERS 

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