· Dollar shackled by doubts over U.S. recovery; bitcoin tops $47,000 for first time
The dollar languished near its lowest in a week on Tuesday as investors began entertaining doubts about the scale of a recent rally driven by expectations of a faster pandemic recovery in the United States than elsewhere.
The spotlight remained on bitcoin as it reached a record above $47,000, building on a nearly 20% surge overnight that was the biggest since 2017, after Tesla Inc announced a $1.5 billion investment in the digital asset.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies has vacillated around 91 since disappointing U.S. jobs data on Friday knocked the wind out of a two-week run that had lifted it to a more than two-month high of 91.6. It last traded at 90.935.
Investors had pushed up the greenback thanks to a faster U.S. vaccine rollout relative to most other countries, and as Democrats moved to fast-track President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
Many analysts, though, see that massive fiscal spending coupled with continued ultra-easy Federal Reserve monetary policy dragging down the dollar in the longer term.
Europe’s “lagging” vaccination program will cap the euro near-term but the continent should catch up by the summer, after which the single currency could rally to $1.28 for the first time since 2014, he said.
The euro was little changed at $1.2055 in early Asian trading on Tuesday, up from the two-month low of $1.9520 touched Friday.
The dollar was mostly flat at 105.21 yen, after climbing to 105.765 at the end of last week for the first time since October.
Bitcoin traded at $47,073 after pushing to a new record at $47,565.86 on Tuesday.
Rival coin ethereum changed hands at $1,746.50 after reaching an unprecedented $1,784.85 on Monday.
· WHO boss says Covid-19 variants raise questions on vaccines
A day after South Africa announced it was putting on hold the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine that has raised questions about reliability, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the emergence of new coronavirus variants has raised major questions on whether available vaccines will be effective.
Speaking during WHO’s latest press briefing from Geneva on Monday, February 8, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is one of several that has been shown to be effective in preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death from Covid-19.
But he acknowledged that the emergence of new variants of the virus "has raised questions" about the potential impact of those variants on vaccines.
· Global health officials back AstraZeneca vaccine after South Africa study rings alarm
Health officials around the world gave their backing to the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, after a study showing it had little effect against mild disease caused by the variant now spreading quickly in South Africa rang global alarm
· CDC director says Covid tests for US domestic flights could curb spread
· Victoria records two new coronavirus cases linked to Melbourne Holiday Inn quarantine hotel
· Turkey reports over 8,000 new coronavirus infections
More than 103 fatalities, 8,567 recoveries recorded in past 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data
· 26 more cases of COVID-19 variants confirmed, total now at 80
South Korea's health authorities said Tuesday they have identified 26 more cases of COVID-19 variants, vowing to step up monitoring on foreign arrivals to better detect potential cases.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 24 people were confirmed to have been infected with the variant from Britain, while one person was infected with the South African variant and another with the one from Brazil.
· Donald Trump's second impeachment trial set to begin in US Senate
· German exports edge up in December on robust China trade
German exports rose in December as solid trade with China and the United States helped Europe’s largest economy as it struggles to grow under the restrictions of a lockdown aimed at suppressing the COVID-19 case load.
Seasonally adjusted exports edged up 0.1% on the month after an increase of 2.3% in November, the Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday. Imports fell 0.1% after an increase of 5.4% in the prior month.
The trade surplus expanded to 16.1 billion euros.
· French economy still on track for 5% growth this year: central bank
The French economy is still on course to rebound 5% this year despite the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the central bank said on Tuesday, reiterating its December forecast.
The euro zone’s second-biggest economy suffered its deepest post-war recession last year, with gross domestic product contracting 8.3% due to the coronavirus outbreak and measures to contain it, including two national lockdowns.
· Italy's Berlusconi says Europe will like League decision to back Draghi government: paper
The decision by Italy’s far-right League party to back the government that former ECB head Mario Draghi is trying to forge is “wise” ad will be appreciated in Europe, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
· Huawei founder says hopes Biden administration will have 'open policy'
· China's smartphone shipments rebound to pre-pandemic levels in January: government data
China’s smartphone shipments nearly doubled in January 2021 versus a year ago, government data published on Tuesday showed, rebounding from a coronavirus-induced slump in the beginning of last year.
Shipments of smartphones within China jumped 94.3% annually to 39.6 million handsets in January, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications (CAICT), a state-backed think tank.
· China's auto sales surged 30% in January, tenth straight monthly gain
· China's restaurants, hotels eye gloomy Lunar New Year as virus worries re-ignite
China’s hotels and restaurants are bracing for a lacklustre Lunar New Year holiday, as travel curbs and government advice to stay home and avoid big gatherings look set to deal a blow to domestic tourism this year.
· Japan's households, firms continue to hoard cash as pandemic pain persists
Japan’s currency in circulation and bank deposits rose at a record pace in January, data showed on Tuesday, a sign companies and households continued to hoard cash due to uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic.
The data suggests any recovery in Japan’s economy will be fragile as state of emergency curbs rolled out last month hurt consumption and heighten fears of another recession.
· Japan finance minister: G7 focus on emerging market debt, digital taxation and digital currency
· Wealth business seen boosting earnings prospects for Singaporean banks
Singaporean banks are likely to see strong revenue from wealth business bolstering their profits this year, with improving economic prospects also expected to cushion the impact on their interest margins hovering near record lows, analysts say.
· Singapore to taper spending in 2021 after record budget deficit
Singapore is expected to announce next week an expansionary but trimmed down budget to support businesses still struggling, having delivered an unprecedented fiscal stimulus last year to help the economy weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
· South Korea's new top diplomat says confident about U.S. coordination over North Korea
· New Zealand suspends ties with Myanmar; to ban visits from military leaders
New Zealand is suspending all high-level contact with Myanmar and imposing a travel ban on its military leaders following last week’s coup, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday.
New Zealand will also ensure its aid programme will not include projects that are delivered with, or benefit, the military government, Ardern told a news conference.
· Myanmar coup opponents defy bans and water cannons to extend protests
Myanmar protesters opposed to last week’s military coup defied road blocks and bans on large gatherings to extend the biggest demonstrations in more than a decade on Tuesday, chanting and confronting police who fired water cannons and warned them to disperse.
· Myanmar military imposes curfew, meeting bans as protests swell
Myanmar’s new military rulers on Monday signaled their intention to crack down on opponents of their takeover, issuing decrees that effectively banned peaceful public protests in the country’s two biggest cities.
The restrictions were ordered after police fired water cannons at hundreds of protesters in the capital, Naypyitaw, who were demanding the military hand power back to elected officials. It was just one of many demonstrations around the country.
· Police in Myanmar capital fire gunshots into air to disperse protesters - witnesses
· Oil climbs to 13-month highs on output cuts, demand recovery hopes
Oil prices edged up to their highest in 13 months on Tuesday as supply cuts by major producers and optimism over fuel demand recovery support energy markets.
Brent crude futures for April gained 48 cents, or 0.8%, to $61.04 a barrel by 0443 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) for March was at $58.42 a barrel, up 45 cents, or 0.8%.
Both Brent and WTI are at their highest since January 2020. Front-month prices for both contracts are up for the seventh session on Tuesday, the longest win streak since January 2019.
· Oil major Total’s full-year profit falls 66% as Covid pandemic hits fuel demand
France’s Total on Tuesday reported a massive drop in full-year profit, following a tumultuous 12 months in which commodity prices collapsed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The energy major said full-year 2020 net profit came in at $4.06 billion, beating expectations of $3.86 billion, from analysts polled by Refinitiv. It compared with $11.8 billion for the 2019 fiscal year, reflecting a drop of 66% year-on-year.
Total also posted fourth-quarter net profit of $1.3 billion, beating analyst expectations of $1.1 billion.
Shares of Total are up around 0.8% year-to-date, having tumbled more than 28% last year.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, the guardian, AP, yenisafak, Koreaherald, thenationalnews
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