More than two million workers have left the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme since the Morrison government tightened eligibility and reduced payment rates at the end of September.…
Day: December 1, 2020
Goldilocks year awaits emerging markets defying Covid-19 pandemic rout
Emerging-market investors seem to have everything going for them right now, with the November rally offering a hint of what 2021 may have in store.
A plethora of tailwinds from accommodative central banks to an impending change of U.S. president and Covid-19 vaccine progress has put the assets of developing nations on course for some impressive milestones. Bonds have wiped out their year-to-date losses, while MSCI Inc.’s currency index is poised for the best month since January 2019 as well as a second successive annual gain. The MSCI stocks gauge is on track for its best month since March 2016.
Underpinning the recovery is a resurgence in foreign-investor interest. Fourth-quarter portfolio inflows to emerging markets are poised to hit the highest in eight years, data from the Institute of International Finance show. Yet, for all the euphoria, foreign positioning in bonds and equities for developing nations excluding China remains light, and Deutsche Bank AG’s Sameer Goel, says the rally is far from over.
“It’s Goldilocks for emerging markets’ under-invested assets as we go into 2021,” said Goel, the bank’s head of emerging markets macro research in Singapore. They “have
VC investments in online gaming start-ups hike 114% to $376 mn in 2020
Online gaming gained speed during the lockdown phase and the month-on-month traffic is still increasing, attracting investors.
According to Venture Intelligence data, venture capital investments rose by around 114 per cent this year to $376 million (January to date) from $176 million in 2019 (full year). Investors say the online gaming industry presents the next multi-billion dollar opportunity for start-ups and enterprises, especially after the ban on Chinese apps.
According to reports, online gaming companies have risen up to 275 in 2019, which is a huge increase considering there were only 25 such start-ups in 2010.
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US Predicts ‘Vaccines Before Christmas’ As Virus Super-surge Looms
Hopes for a first wave of vaccinations before the end of 2020 received a boost with US firm Moderna saying it was filing Monday for emergency authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine in the United States and Europe.
After top US scientists warned Americans to brace for a “surge superimposed on the surge,” Moderna reported full results had confirmed a high efficacy estimated at 94.1 percent.
It was set to join American pharmaceutical maker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, which applied for similar approvals last week, and have predicted their vaccine could be greenlit in the US shortly after December 10.
If the US Food and Drug Administration agrees Moderna’s product is safe and effective, the first of the drug’s two doses could be injected into the arms of millions of Americans by the middle of December.
“We believe that
