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Our briefing for Wednesday, December 1, 2021:
Dec 1, 2021 3:25:17 PM
- In the United States, Merck’s antiviral pill has been recommended for authorization by a panel of health experts, with 13 voting in favour and 10 voting against. If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decides to authorize the pill, it will become the first ever at-home treatment for Covid-19. Molnupiravir has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalizations and deaths among Covid-19 patients when taken properly. It is already authorized in the U.K. The FDA, though not bound by the panel’s recommendation, is expected to make a final decision by the end of the year.
- Canada will require incoming air travellers from all countries except the United States to take Covid-19 tests upon arrival. The federal government made the announcement on Tuesday explaining that the new rules will apply to all travellers regardless of their vaccination status. Travellers will have to isolate until they receive the results of their test. Health Minister Jean Yves-Duclos said the requirements will go into effect as quickly as possible over the next few days. The new requirements are part of Canada’s response to the arrival of the omicron variant. The country also expanded their travel ban to include Egypt, Malawi and Nigeria.
- In the United Kingdom, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Christmas party plans should not be cancelled despite the emergence of the omicron variant. He urged people to get their boosters, and to take precautionary measures when socializing, like mask wearing and taking Covid-19 tests. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also suggested there was no reason to cancel Christmas plans, and he also urged people to come forward and get their boosters. He said beyond that, there would be no change in advice “about how people should be living their lives.” Johnson’s government has been clear about not moving to their “Plan B” unless hospitals show signs of becoming seriously overwhelmed.
- Japan has asked international airlines to suspend all incoming flights until the end of December. The country made the request as an emergency precaution to help contain the spread of the omicron variant, which Japan now has two confirmed cases of. Japan also banned all foreign visitors from Tuesday, a ban that will potentially extend through until the end of the year. Japanese citizens arriving in the country will also be required to quarantine for up to 14 days. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he was ready to take criticism for being too cautious. "These are temporary, exceptional measures that we are taking for safety's sake until there is clearer information about the omicron variant," Kishida told reporters.
- India’s government is asking the states to ramp up Covid-19 testing as a precaution against the omicron variant. Last week the health ministry warned state governments that a recent fall in testing was impacting the country’s pandemic response. On Sunday India introduced mandatory Covid-19 tests at airports and a seven-day quarantine for those arriving from countries deemed high-risk, including for those who are fully vaccinated. Cases have fallen significantly in India after reaching record numbers in April and May. The country’s total coronavirus tally is 35 million, with only the United States reporting higher numbers.
- In Australia, scientists in the state of Victoria have developed the country’s first mRNA vaccine for fighting coronavirus infections. As the Guardian reports, the new vaccine was developed over five months in Melbourne by Monash University Researchers, IDT Australia and the Doherty Institute. The vaccine must now undergo clinical trials and regulatory approvals, which could take years. Victoria’s innovation minister Jaala Pulford said the vaccine was a proud achievement. “Australia has manufactured for trial our first Covid-19 mNRA vaccine, this is also Australia’s first mRNA product that has been manufactured,” she said on Tuesday. “We are the only place in this country that has the capacity in pharmaceutical manufacturing, but also in scientific development, to do this.”
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
Stocks pare gains as traders assess Omicron news
Brief: Stocks pared gains in another session of intense volatility, with traders assessing the latest news about the omicron coronavirus variant. South Africa said the daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases almost doubled from Tuesday, while the World Health Organization’s chief scientist noted that vaccines will likely protect against severe cases of the new strain. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reinforced his message that the central bank would keep inflation in check and said for the second time in two days that officials should consider speeding up how quickly they withdraw policy support. Individuals stuck to their dip-buying ways on Tuesday, plowing a net US$2.22 billion into the market, a single-day record, data compiled by Vanda Research show. That brought net purchases over the past week to US$7.36 billion. Retail traders preferred to snap up index-tracking exchange-traded funds as well as large-cap technology companies.
Trend-following hedge funds’ momentum halted following market wobble
Brief: CTAs and trend-following hedge funds have seen their recent advance halted, as anxieties over the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 punctured market momentum towards the end of last month. CTAs and other managed futures strategies had started the final quarter of 2021 on a high, with solid October gains. But Société Générale’s main CTA Index was set to finish November down 2.64 per cent earlier this week, reversing October’s 2.56 per cent gain. The index – which charts the daily performances of 20 of the largest CTAs, including funds run by brand-name firms such as Man AHL, Graham Capital, Systematica, AQR, and Aspect Capital – remains up almost 7 per cent over the 11 months since the start of 2021. Meanwhile, SocGen’s trend-following benchmark, the SG Trend Index, remains in double-digit territory year-to-date, having climbed 10.64 per cent since the start of 2021, despite ending November in the red
European Firms Skirt Vaccine Mandates as U.S. Pushes Ahead
Brief: U.S. companies, from United Airlines Holdings Inc. to Citigroup Inc., are requiring employees to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs. The situation looks very different in Europe, even as Covid-19 cases surge anew and governments take an increasingly tough line. With rules around privacy making corporate “no jab, no job” mandates challenging, many European businesses are using subtler measures to convince workers to get immunized against the coronavirus. Stellantis NV, the maker of Fiat, Peugeot and Chrysler cars, insists on its U.S. workers getting inoculated, a spokeswoman said. In Europe, it uses a lighter touch, making employees sign declarations that they’re symptom-free or haven’t been in contact with an infected person for two weeks. “It’s a lot more gentle encouragement,” said Deborah Margolis, a senior associate at labor law firm Littler in London, referring to the European way. “Rather than that sort of heavy-handed approach.”
It Would Cost $50 Billion to Vaccinate the World, OECD Says
Brief: The emergence of a new coronavirus variant increases the uncertainty already weighing on the global economic outlook and highlights vaccination shortcomings, according to the OECD’s chief economist Laurence Boone. While the Paris-based organization didn’t directly account for omicron in its new outlook, published Wednesday, it emphasized continued pandemic risks and urged governments to address low inoculation rates in some regions so as not to create “breeding grounds for deadlier strains.” “We are concerned that omicron strain is further adding to high levels of uncertainty and risks and that could be a threat to recovery,” Boone said in a presentation of the OECD’s report in Paris. Vaccinating more people “remains the most important priority for ending the pandemic and also for tackling the imbalances that are plaguing the recovery.”
Office stocks take a hit as omicron variant concerns add to growing slowdown in demand
Brief: Stocks of the nation’s largest office REITs moved lower again Tuesday, as the office market faces new concerns over the Omicron variant of Covid. This comes on top of a new cooling in office demand, which had been improving sharply in the first half of this year as Covid19 vaccinations promised a safe return to work. Stocks of the largest office REITs, like Boston Properties, SL Green, Douglas Emmett and Alexandria Real Estate Equities all fell sharply Friday, when news of the variant spread, and have yet to recover. These stocks had been surging, up around 25% year-to-date. The S&P 500 also fell on Tuesday, down more than 1.5% in morning trading. New demand for office space fell in October to the lowest rate since the first quarter of this year, according to a new report from VTS, a commercial real estate asset management company. That is the second straight monthly decline. Since peaking in August of this year, demand is now down 30% nationally.
