MTS Help Center

Gold firms as Mnuchin rekindles U.S. stimulus hopes

· Gold edged higher on Friday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin signalled that negotiations on stimulus measures will continue, boosting the metal’s appeal as a hedge against likely inflation.

· Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,872.95 per ounce, but was down 0.8% for the week. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.7% to $1,872.40.

· Mnuchin said he and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows would be speaking on Friday with Republican congressional leaders on negotiations with Congress on more economic support.

· “The thought of stimulus talks moving forward once again has supported gold as we realise central bank liquidity and fiscal stimulus measures continue to be a driving force behind this market,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

· Bullion has dipped about 5% since positive reports on COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna in the past 12 days. Gold has mainly benefited this year on the back of damage to economies from the pandemic and the resultant global stimulus.

But gold will remain supported as “vaccines will take months and months to become well distributed enough to be effective and the U.S. government is going to continue to be stalemated,” said Jeffrey Christian, managing partner of CPM Group.

· Investors pulled $4 billion from gold, the biggest outflow ever, amid a rush for riskier assets last week, BofA said on Friday.

· “While the macro backdrop remains supportive, the key downside risk stems from physical demand and ETP (exchange-traded products) holdings,” said Standard Chartered analyst Suki Cooper in a note.

“Buyers still appear to view price dips below $1,860/oz as attractive entry levels, and prices have held up well given the size of ETP outflows.”

· Silver rose 0.7% to $24.26 per ounce. Platinum eased 0.7% at $944.99, while palladium shed 0.2% to $2,321.49.

· Mnuchin says he and GOP leaders will discuss plan to pass targeted stimulus with Democrats’ help

· Coronavirus Updates:

Global cases: 58,969,491

Global deaths: 1,393,225

U.S. cases: 12,587,627 (+135,593)

U.S. deaths: 262,694 (+864)

· South Korea to close bars, restrict restaurants and churches amid coronavirus spike

· Cancel Thanksgiving, stay home, wear a mask — State and city leaders impose targeted coronavirus restrictions to curb Covid without tanking economy

Coronavirus cases are running rampant across the U.S., and a handful of states and cities are closing nonessential businesses, limiting public and private gatherings and imposing mask mandates to try to slow the rapid spread ahead of the winter season.

· Pfizer and BioNTech to request emergency authorization from FDA for Covid vaccine

Pfizer and BioNTech will apply Friday for an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for their coronavirus vaccine.

If Pfizer’s application is approved, the vaccine will likely be limited and rolled out in phases, with health-care workers, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions getting the first inoculations. Essential workers, teachers and people in homeless shelters and prisons would likely be next, followed by children and young adults.

The FDA process is expected to take a few weeks, and an advisory committee meeting to review the vaccine has been tentatively scheduled for early December. Some Americans could get their first dose of the vaccine in about a month.

· First Americans could get COVID-19 vaccine by December 11, top health official says

The first Americans could receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Dec. 11, the chief scientific adviser for the U.S. government’s vaccine program said on Sunday.

“Within 24 hours from the approval, the vaccine will be moving and located in the areas where each state will have told us where they want the vaccine doses,” Dr. Moncef Slaoui, part of the “Operation Warp Speed” vaccine program, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s outside advisers will meet on Dec. 10 to discuss whether to authorize the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech for emergency use.

The vaccine, which requires two doses administered about three weeks apart, has been shown to be 95% effective with no major safety concerns. Pfizer expects to have enough doses to protect 25 million people by the end of the year.

· U.S. FDA grants emergency use authorization to Regeneron COVID-19 antibody given to Trump

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday issued emergency use authorization for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc’s COVID-19 antibody therapy, an experimental treatment given to U.S. President Donald Trump that he said helped cure him of the disease.

The FDA said the monoclonal antibodies, casirivimab and imdevimab, should be administered together for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing and who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19.

This includes those who are 65 years of age or older or who have certain chronic medical conditions.

· Moderna to charge $25-$37 for COVID-19 vaccine: CEO tells paper

Moderna will charge governments between $25 and $37 per dose of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, depending on the amount ordered, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel told German weekly Welt am Sonntag (WamS).

“Our vaccine therefore costs about the same as a flu shot, which is between $10 and $50,” he was quoted as saying.

· Covid reinfection ‘highly unlikely’ for at least six months, Oxford study says

People who have contracted the coronavirus are “highly unlikely” to contract the disease again for at least six months, according to a new Oxford study.

Researchers say the findings are “exciting” because they represent an important step in understanding how Covid-19 immunity may work.

· Gene experts claim they identified human genes that can protect against Covid-19

· Russia ready to provide other countries with Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, says Putin

· Xi says China ready to boost global COVID-19 vaccine cooperation

· WHO COVID envoy fears third wave, calls Europe response 'incomplete'

A World Health Organization (WHO) special COVID-19 envoy predicted a third wave of the pandemic in Europe in early 2021, if governments repeat what he said was a failure to do what was needed to prevent the second wave of infections.

· EU chief urges gradual lifting of coronavirus lockdowns, warns of a third wave

· France to start easing lockdown rules in three steps, government spokesman says

France will start easing coronavirus lockdown rules in coming weeks, carrying out the process in three stages so as to avoid a new flareup in the pandemic, the government said on Sunday.

“There will be three steps to (lockdown) easing in view of the health situation and of risks tied to some businesses: a first step around Dec. 1, then before the year-end holidays, and then from January 2021,” Attal added.

· Germany braces for extension of lockdown until December 20

· Germany plans for $190 billion in new debt in 2021, sources say

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz plans to take on at least 160 billion euros ($190 billion) in new debt in 2021 to help stave off the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, three people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

This is at least 64 billion euros higher than the 96 billion euros initially foreseen by Scholz for next year.

Of the additional debt, 39.5 billion euros are earmarked to support companies whose business has been hit by the coronavirus crisis, a draft of the budget seen by Reuters showed. About 2.7 billion euros will be available to pay for a vaccine.

· Sunak: no return to austerity in new spending plan

British finance minister Rishi Sunak said there would be no return to austerity in a spending plan he will announce on Wednesday, even as the coronavirus crisis pushes the country’s debt further above 2 trillion pounds ($2.7 trillion).

· Britain wants to agree an EU free-trade deal: finance minister Sunak

· Britain and Canada agree post-Brexit rollover trade deal

Britain and Canada struck a rollover trade deal on Saturday to protect the flow of $27 billion-worth (£20.32 billion) of goods and services between them after Brexit, and vowed to start talks on a bespoke agreement next year.

· Trump attends his final G-20 summit but does not participate in pandemic preparedness session

President Donald Trump on Saturday did not participate in a virtual G-20 session on global response efforts to the coronavirus and improved pandemic preparedness, even as Covid-19 cases surge and break daily records in the U.S.

The White House, in a statement released later Saturday, said Trump discussed with world leaders the need to restore economic growth and jobs as the world battles the coronavirus, and reaffirmed the importance of the G-20 for future prosperity.

It was not clear for most of the week if Trump would participate in the final G-20 summit before he leaves office. The president isn’t scheduled to appear again at the G-20 until Sunday morning.

· G-20 leaders seek to help poorest nations in post-Covid world

The Covid-19 pandemic, which has thrown the global economy into a deep recession this year, and efforts needed to underpin an economic rebound in 2021, were at the top of the agenda.

· G20 says it will strive for fair global access to COVID-19 vaccine

· IMF calls for expansion of debt relief beyond world's poorest countries

· G20 should boost trade financing for developing countries, back reforms, says WTO official

· Singapore’s economy contracts 5.8% in the third quarter compared to a year ago, better than earlier estimates

Singapore’s economy contracted by 5.8% in the third quarter compared to a year ago — coming in better than initial estimates, the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry said on Monday.

The Southeast Asian economy earlier estimated its economy would shrink by 7% year-on-year in the July-to-September quarter, according to official data.

The Singapore economy is now expected to shrink between 6% and 6.5% in 2020 compared to a year ago, said MTI. That’s narrower than the previous official forecast range of 5% to 7% contraction for 2020.

The DBS economists expect Singapore’s economy to contract by 6% this year, before rebounding to a growth of 5.5% in 2021

· Most U.S. companies optimistic about doing business in China after Biden’s win, survey finds

“The majority of our respondents look at it as a positive,” Ker Gibbs, president of AmCham Shanghai, told CNBC in a phone interview. “The Biden administration would be a positive to the stability of the environment, the stability of the relationship.”

· Coons says hopes for bipartisan U.S. policy to 'out-compete' China

U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Coons, seen as a contender for secretary of state in the incoming Biden administration, told Reuters on Friday he hoped to see a bipartisan policy take shape for the United States to “out-compete” China.

“I see clearly that China is a peer competitor. And we have to be able at the same time, to cooperate with China in those areas where it’s essential,” Coons said in an interview before speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum.

“There’s a whole series of areas where the world is only going to get safer and more stable if the United States and China cooperate, but our main focus has to be competing with China,” he said.

· GOP governor, a Trump critic, calls for end to president’s ‘ridiculous challenges’ of Biden win

Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ripped President Donald Trump on Friday over his refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden, calling a delay in the transition “outrageous” and “bad for the country.”

“We need to have the transition begin as soon as possible. These kind of ridiculous challenges that are not based on fact need to end,” Hogan, a frequent Trump critic, said on “Squawk Box.”

· Trump seeks expedited appeal of Pennsylvania ruling against effort to toss mail-in ballots

Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign said on Saturday they are seeking expedited appeal of a Pennsylvania judge’s ruling against their effort to throw out mail-in ballots.

A federal judge earlier on Saturday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Trump’s campaign that sought to throw out millions of mail-in votes in Pennsylvania, dealing a major blow to its flailing efforts to overturn his Nov. 3 election loss to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

· U.S. judge calls Trump claim challenging Biden win in Pennsylvania 'Frankenstein's Monster'

U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, described the case as “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations.”

Brann said that he “has no authority to take away the right to vote of even a single person, let alone millions of citizens.”

· Chris Christie tells Trump to end election lawsuits, calls his legal team ‘national embarrassment’

President Donald Trump’s confidant former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday that the president should end his legal fights challenging the results of the election and concede to president-elect Joe Biden.

· Republicans ask Michigan election board to delay certification for two weeks, audit Detroit votes

· Biden inauguration will be ‘scaled down’ because of coronavirus, chief of staff says

President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration events are likely to look different from past years in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, his chief of staff said on Sunday.

Ron Klain said on ABC’s “This Week” that the Jan. 20 event is likely to feature “scaled down versions of the existing traditions” and may borrow from the techniques that were used to put on the virtual Democratic National Convention over the summer.

· Biden will announce first Cabinet picks on Tuesday but Trump digs in despite election loss, chief of staff Klain says

Joe Biden will announce the first of his Cabinet picks on Tuesday, a senior aide said on Sunday, as the president-elect moves ahead with planning for his incoming administration while President Donald Trump showed no sign of abandoning his long-shot bid to overturn the U.S. election.

· Top Biden adviser seen as making tech regulation more likely

· Biden faces a race against the clock for U.S. to rejoin Iran nuclear deal

President-elect Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement if Iran abides by the deal, but both sides will have to race against the clock and navigate a political minefield to reach that goal.

With Iran due to hold elections in June, any diplomatic effort will have to move swiftly during Biden’s first few months in office, say former U.S. officials, European diplomats and regional experts.

· Saudi Arabia should be a ‘partner’ on any future nuclear deal with Iran, foreign minister says

Saudi Arabia says it should be a part of any potential negotiations between the incoming U.S. administration and Iran on a new nuclear deal, Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud told CNBC.

· Russia bars entry to 25 British citizens in retaliation for UK sanctions

Britain brought sanctions against 25 Russians and 20 Saudis in July as part of post-Brexit measures foreign minister Dominic Raab said were aimed at stopping the laundering of “blood money”.

Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Worldometer.