· Dollar in doldrums as Democrat sweep clears way for larger fiscal stimulus
The dollar languished near its lowest level in nearly three years on Thursday after Democrats won control of the U.S. Senate, clearing the way for a larger fiscal stimulus under President-elect Joe Biden.
Currency markets were largely unperturbed by scenes of chaos in Washington as supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed Capitol Hill.
Analysts generally assume a Democrat-controlled Senate would be a net positive for economic growth globally and thus for most risk assets, but negative for bonds and the dollar as the U.S. budget and trade deficits may widen further.
The dollar index was little changed at 89.321 in early Asian trade on Thursday, after dipping to its lowest since March 2018 at 89.206 overnight.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed as high as 1.054% on Wednesday for the first time since the market mayhem of mid-March.
Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, sees the dollar’s fortunes split with Democrats controlling both Houses.
The euro gained 0.1% to $1.23385, approaching the $1.2349 level it reached Wednesday for the first time since April 2018.
The dollar fell 0.1% to 102.965 yen, after dipping to 102.595 on Wednesday for the first time since March..
Bitcoin marked a fresh all-time high of $37,386 on Thursday, extending a surge of more the 800% since mid-March.
It last traded at $37,382.
· Cryptocurrency market value surpasses $1 trillion for first time as bitcoin hits $37,700 record high
Bitcoin smashed through $37,700 to hit a new record high on Thursday helping to lift the total value of the entire cryptocurrency market above $1 trillion for the first time.
The digital coin hit an all time high of $37,739.08 at around 1:44 p.m. Singapore time, just a few hours after blowing past $36,000, according to data from Coindesk.
Bitcoin was over 5% from a day earlier at around 2:42 p.m Singapore time.
The cryptocurrency is up about 29% since the start of 2021 and in the past 12 months has surged over 380%.
Meanwhile, the value of the entire cryptocurrency market, which is made up of bitcoin and other digital coins like ether and tether, surpassed $1 trillion for the first time early on Thursday, according to data from Coinmarketcap.
· Senate rejects objection to Biden win in Arizona, moves toward confirming victory over Trump nationally
· U.S. House of Representatives rejects second objection to presidential election results
A majority of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday morning voted down a move by allies of President Donald Trump to reject Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for Democrat Joe Biden, a last-ditch attempt to either negate Biden’s win or delay its certification.
· Congress confirms Biden election as president, morning after Trump-fueled mob invades Capitol
Congress early Thursday confirmed the election of Joe Biden as president, a day after a mob invaded the Capitol in a chaotic effort to avoid having President Donald Trump confirmed as the loser in the race.
The affirmation came after the House of Representatives and the Senate, in two separate votes in both chambers, overwhelmingly rejected efforts by some Republicans to object to the acceptance of Electoral College wins for Biden in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Biden hit 271 votes in the Electoral College, one more than needed for a White House victory, with acceptance of Vermont’s slate of electors.
The certification of an Electoral College win is normally a formality by Congress, enshrined in the Constitution.
But Trump’s refusal for the past two months to accept that he lost while claiming without valid evidence that he lost due to widespread ballot fraud complicated that process.
Scores of his Republican allies in Congress said they would object to the acceptance of electors from states that gave Biden his margin of victory.
Trump pressured Vice President MIke Pence to void Biden’s win unilaterally by refusing to approve some ballots for the Democrat.
But Pence, in a letter released Wednesday, refused to do so, saying he did not have such power as the presiding officer in the joint session of Congress to toss out ballots.
· 4 Killed as Pro-Trump Mob Clashes With Police; Cabinet Members Discuss President's Removal Amid Allegations of 'Coup'
DC Police Chief Robert Contee announced this evening that three people died from medical emergencies during today’s insurrection at the Capitol, taking the toll in the incident to 4 after a woman supporter of Trump died earlier in the day. Contee did not specify if these people were involved in any way with the overtaking of the Capitol building. “One adult female and two adult males appear to have suffered from separate medical emergencies, which resulted in their deaths.
· US: California virus crisis worsens with fewer ICU beds
Only 1% of 40 million residents vaccinated with 22,000 patients in hospitals, including 4,700 in intensive care units
Only 1% of Californians vaccinated
Despite two different vaccines being approved and the distributing process started in the US, only 1% of California's 40 million residents have been vaccinated, according to Governor Gavin Newsom.
The state has received nearly 1.3 million doses of the vaccine but only 454,000 doses have been administered, according to health officials.
Newsom announced Tuesday a $4.5 billion relief package for California, which includes more than $1 billion in immediate relief for small businesses including grants and fee waivers.
The package includes tax credits for new hires, a major job package including apprenticeships, in addition to housing development and more green jobs.
The death toll in California surpassed 26,500 Monday with confirmed cases nearing 2.4 million.
The number of cases in the US was more than 21.1 million Wednesday with fatalities at 359,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
· U.S. tops 21 million COVID-19 cases with record hospitalizations as states ramp up vaccinations
More Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday than at any time since the pandemic began, as total coronavirus infections crossed the 21 million mark, deaths soared across much of the United States and a historic vaccination effort lagged.
U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations reached a record 130,834 late on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally of public health data, while 3,684 reported fatalities was the second-highest single-day death toll of the pandemic.
That appalling toll meant that on Tuesday someone died from COVID-19 every 24 seconds in the United States. With total deaths surpassing 357,000, one in every 914 U.S. residents has died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to a Reuters analysis.
· UK emergency Covid-19 field hospitals asked to be 'ready' to admit patients as crisis looms
UK health workers are preparing to reactivate seven emergency Covid-19 field hospitals, as a surge of coronavirus cases fueled by the spread of a new, more contagious variant threatens to overwhelm intensive care units.
· China locks down part of province outside Beijing as coronavirus cases spike
Chinese authorities are starting to lock down parts of a province neighboring Beijing after a spike in coronavirus cases.
The restrictions implemented in Hebei this week are some of the strictest since the spread of Covid-19 stalled within the country in March, and come as new waves of the coronavirus hit the U.S. and Europe. China’s initial tough response to the pandemic contributed to a 6.8% contraction in the economy in the first quarter.
Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province and located about a three-and-a-half hour drive southwest of Beijing, reported 50 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 67 asymptomatic ones for Wednesday. It brought the provincial total to 90 current confirmed cases and 144 asymptomatic cases.
The city has stopped passengers from going to its train station, suspended long-distance buses, closed schools and put tighter control on entering apartment compounds, while authorities have blocked major highways in the province, according to state media.
· Tokyo prepares for state of emergency as COVID-19 cases surge
Japan looked set to impose a one-month state of emergency in Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures after an advisory panel signed off on it Thursday, while the capital announced a record 2,447 new coronavirus cases.
The proposal for an emergency declaration running from Jan. 8 to Feb. 7 was approved at a morning meeting, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said. Its restrictions centre on measures to combat transmission at bars and restaurants, cited by the government as key risk areas.
Though still less seriously affected by the pandemic than many countries around the world, Japan saw new daily infections top 6,000 for the first time on Wednesday.
· Pompeo says U.S. considering sanctions on those involved in Hong Kong arrests
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington is considering sanctions and other restrictions on those involved in the arrest of over 50 people in Hong Kong and warned it could target the territory’s economic and trade office in the United States.
· China says will take necessary measures to safeguard companies' rights and interests
China said on Thursday that it would take necessary measures to safeguard companies’ rights and interests in response to the United States considering adding Alibaba and Tencent to a China stock ban.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying was speaking at a regular news briefing.
· Up to 4,000 financial firms could fail due to COVID, says UK regulator*
Around 4,000 financial firms in Britain were at “heightened risk” of collapsing due to fallout from the first wave of the pandemic, the Financial Conduct Authority said on Thursday.
The FCA surveyed 23,000 financial firms to check on their resilience to COVID-19, which last year triggered Britain’s worst economic downturn in 300 years.
“At end of October we’ve identified there are 4,000 financial services firms with low financial resilience and at heightened risk of failure,” said Sheldon Mills, the FCA’s executive director of consumers and competition.
· India’s central bank will look at inflation and state of economic recovery for future policy decisions
Inflation pressures and the state of economic recovery will guide future policy moves from the Reserve Bank of India, a member of the bank’s monetary policy committee told CNBC.
Speaking in her personal capacity, Ashima Goyal, who is also an economics professor at India’s Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research said the RBI’s monetary policy committee “worries about inflation.”
Goyal was appointed to the central bank’s monetary policy committee in October, according to local media reports.
“Inflation had been above our target for the past few months but for the last month, it has come down,” she said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”
“I think the reason for this is that in general, the persistent fallout from the lockdown is less than expected,” Goyal said. She was referring to India’s national lockdown between late-March and May to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which led to a collapse in private consumption and investment demand, pushing the economy towards two consecutive quarters of contraction.
· Oil rises as supply constraints remain focus amid U.S. Capitol drama
Oil prices rose on Thursday as Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest exporter, unilaterally agreed to cut output over the next two months and as U.S. crude stockpiles fell.
It was not immediately clear how the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump would impact oil markets, although some analysts believe President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will clamp down on U.S. oil production.
Brent crude was up 40 cents, or 0.7%, at $54.70 a barrel by 0512 GMT, after gaining 1.3% overnight. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 43 cents, or 0.9% to $51.06. The contract rose 1.4% on Wednesday.
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