Gold gains as investors bank on eventual U.S. stimulus
· Gold rose on Friday en route to a second straight weekly gain as investors bet on an imminent U.S.COVID-19 relief package.
· Spot gold advanced 0.3% to $1,839.90 per ounce, having earlier dipped as much as 0.6%. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.3% to $1,843.60.
· “We still believe the stimulus package will get put forth and that will continue to be the underlying support behind gold and silver moving forward,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
He added the stalling of the relief plan in the U.S. Congress had prompted an initial pullback in gold. Gold has been under some pressure after reaching up close to the $1,875 level earlier this week amid a slight bounce in the dollar off recent lows, Meger said.
· Gold’s latest gains came despite a stronger greenback, with the dollar index headed for its first weekly gain in four. U.S. lawmakers sought some more time to hammer out an agreement on a stimulus package amid mounting pressure from weak employment data and surging coronavirus infections.
· “You’re going to see gold move higher next year, but this year, it will be fairly choppy going into year end,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank.
· Gold, considered a hedge against inflation and currency debasement, has gained over 21% this year, helped by massive amounts of stimulus to support pandemic-hit economies.
· “We will get a stimulus deal by the end of the month and the U.S. Federal Reserve will maintain its very loose monetary stance, and that should help underpin gold into 2021,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
· Silver rose 0.3% to $24.03 per ounce. Palladium fell 0.2% to $2,327.31 per ounce and platinum declined 0.8% to $1,018.75.
· China’s iron ore prices spike 10% to a record high on supply concerns
Iron ore futures on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange surged by almost 10% on Friday to an all-time high, crossing the 1,000 yuan ($152.95) per ton mark for the first time in history.
A confluence of dwindling iron ore supply, surging steel demand and potential short-term disruptions caused by storms hitting Western Australia have led commodity analysts to raise concerns.
· CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:
Global Cases: 72.62M (+535,426)
Global Deaths: 1.61M (+7,574)
U.S. Cases: 16.73M (+185,966)
U.S. Deaths: 306,451 (+1,371)
· South Korea reports record 950 cases in Covid ‘emergency’
South Korea reported a record 950 daily coronavirus cases on Saturday, exceeding the late February peak of 909, with the president calling the country’s third wave of COVID-19 an “emergency”.
The South Korean authorities warned they may tighten social-distancing restrictions to their strictest level but held off for now.
More than 70% of the domestically transmitted cases were from Seoul and its neighboring areas, where about half of the nation’s 52 million people live.
· Germany to impose stricter lockdown to battle Covid-19
Germany will close most stores from Wednesday until at least Jan. 10, cutting short the busy Christmas shopping season, as it tightens coronavirus restrictions and tries to rein in the spread of the disease, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.
· FDA approves use of Pfizer COVID vaccine; shipments begin
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last night announced it has issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, allowing shipments to begin and marking a significant milestone in the country's battle against the virus.
An independent FDA panel on Dec 10 recommended that the vaccine be approved for emergency use in people ages 16 and older. The FDA typically follows the recommendations of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), and Hahn had said that the agency would move quickly on its decision.
· Pelosi calls for quick, fair and free distribution of Covid vaccine to as many Americans as possible
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the coronavirus vaccine that has been granted emergency use approval by the Food and Drug Administration to be distributed quickly, freely and fairly to “as many Americans as possible.”
Pelosi, D-Calif., also said the Defense Production Act should be invoked to accelerate the manufacturing of the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech. The act authorizes the president of the United States to require companies to accept contracts to produce materials.
Pelosi also said that that until the vaccine is widely available, Americans should continue embracing “the testing, tracing, treatment, mask wearing and social distancing that are essential to preventing thousands of Americans from dying every day from the pandemic.”
· Coronavirus updates: U.S. states need more money for vaccinations, but Congress still stalled on relief
Republicans and Democrats agree on vaccine money, but stimulus deal remains elusive
A bipartisan group in Congress agrees on the need for billions of dollars to support a mass vaccination campaign in the U.S., as CDC advisors warn there’s no where near enough money at the local level for officials to implement such an undertaking.
The most recent proposal from the bipartisan group, a $908 billion stimulus package, includes $6 billion for vaccine development and distribution, as well as $35 billion to support health-care providers. However, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnel opposes that proposal and has called instead for an agreement that excludes provisions on liability protections for businesses and funding for state and local governments.
As Congress struggles to reach a deal, the first vaccines are expected to begin arriving at sites across the nation on Monday. State and local health departments as well as health-care providers will need much more money to administer vaccines as the programs ramps up, members of a CDC advisory panel warned on Saturday.
· Trump signs one-week government funding bill as Congress buys time for Covid relief
President Donald Trump signed a one-week government funding extension Friday as Congress rushes to reach spending and coronavirus relief deals.
The Senate passed the measure in a voice vote earlier in the day, and the House approved it this week. Funding would have lapsed Saturday if Washington failed to pass a spending plan.
· U.S. government plans to distribute 2.9 million vaccine doses in 24 hours
The federal government’s vaccine distribution plan will kick into gear now that the Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s vaccine.
The government plans to distribute 2.9 million doses of the vaccine within 24 hours. Another 2.9 million doses will come 21 days later for patients to get their second shot, according to Gen. Gustave Perna, who is overseeing the logistics for Operation Warp Speed.
Pfizer plans to ship 50 million doses of the vaccine this year, which is enough to immunize 25 million people due to the two-dose protocol.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said the U.S. could have enough vaccine doses for every American by April.
Who will get the first doses of vaccine?
The first group of Americans outside of clinical trials could be inoculated against Covid-19 in the coming days.
In early December, a key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, voted 13-1 to give health-care workers and long-term care facility residents the first vaccine doses once cleared for public use.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said most states and local jurisdictions expect it to take three weeks to vaccinate all of their health-care workers.
· U.S. to maintain reserve of Covid vaccine doses as safeguard against distribution problems
The U.S. will for now maintain a reserve of more than 50% of coronavirus vaccine doses manufactured in the event there is spoilage as Pfizer’s vaccine begins being distributed nationwide this weekend, Army Gen. Gustave Perna said at a press conference.
The reserve includes the second doses to be given individuals, who need two shots for the vaccine to work as designed, as well as additional doses.
· FDA confident in maintaining cold-chain requirements for vaccine
The FDA is confident that it will meet cold-chain requirements for the Covid-19 vaccine as it prepares nationwide distribution, according to Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA.
The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit and can be kept in a regular refrigerator for a number of days once it thaws.
· ‘Foolhardy’ to assume one dose might be sufficient, FDA official says
The FDA has reiterated its recommendation that patients receive two doses of the vaccine, warning against speculation that a single dose might provide sufficient protection.
Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA, told reporters that those who participated in clinical trials received two doses, and the FDA’s recommendations are based on the scientific data from studying the two-dose regimen.
· AstraZeneca to work on Covid vaccine combinations with Russia’s Sputnik V developers
British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Friday it would soon start work with Russia’s Gamaleya Institute to investigate whether their two coronavirus vaccine candidates could be successfully combined.
The announcement comes shortly after the developers of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine approached AstraZeneca via Twitter late last month to ask whether they should try combining the two common cold virus-based vaccines to boost efficacy.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund — which has funded the development of Sputnik V — said clinical trials of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in combination with its own would begin by the end of the month.
“Being able to combine different COVID-19 vaccines may be helpful to improved protection and/or to improve vaccine accessibility. This is why it is important to explore different vaccine combinations to help make immunisation programmes more flexible, by allowing physicians greater choice at the time of administering vaccines,” AstraZeneca said in a statement on Friday.
· Supreme Court rejects Trump backed lawsuit that sought to overturn Biden election victory
· Brexit trade talks extended beyond Sunday’s deadline as leaders pledge to go ‘the extra mile’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that Brexit trade talks with the U.K. will be extended beyond Sunday’s deadline, adding that “we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.”
Von der Leyen spoke with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson via telephone on Sunday before releasing a joint statement. Both have now mandated their negotiating teams to continue their work.
Media reports from the U.K. suggested there had been some progress in talks in recent days, despite the lack of a breakthrough. No new deadline for the discussions was set by the EU and U.K. leaders.
The Brexit negotiations are particularly difficult because it’s the first time in the EU’s history that both parties are looking to diverge from a current set of rules. Traditionally, new trade deals result in an harmonization of food, labor and other standards.
Simon Coveney, the minister for foreign affairs of Ireland, said via Twitter that the joint statement from both leaders on Sunday on Brexit negotiations “is a good signal.”
“A deal clearly very difficult, but possible,” he said.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Worldometers, cidrap.umn.edu
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