Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong will report record new infections on Friday, according to local media, setting the stage for additional restrictions. South Korea will extend limits on gatherings and dining out for two weeks after unprecedented case numbers.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered an immediate review of Covid-19 restrictions after a spike in infections. 

Japan will unveil relaxed border controls as soon as next week, according to broadcaster TBS. In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country is managing to slow the spread of omicron, winning time to administer booster shots.

Key Developments:

• Virus Tracker: Cases top 387.5 million; deaths pass 5.7 million
• Vaccine Tracker: More than 10.1 billion shots administered
• Covid’s endemic shift means slowdown for virus-product makers
• New virus research will speed NIH’s next outbreak response
• What we know about omicron and its subvariant BA.2: QuickTake
• Sign up for the free Coronavirus Daily newsletter here

Japan to Relax Border Controls: TBS (12:36 p.m. HK)

Japan’s government will unveil relaxed border control measures as soon as next week, broadcaster TBS reported, with elaborating on how or when measures would be eased.

Daishiro Yamagiwa, minister in charge of the nation’s coronavirus response, was quoted as saying that while the government will be “flexible” about border controls that will be kept in place until the end of this month, it wants to eventually open up the country to “essential” foreigners.

China Reports 9 Olympic Cases (11:22 a.m. HK)

China reported nine infections among Olympic athletes and officials arriving at the airport and in a “closed-loop” system Thursday.

According to a statement from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympics, there were 12 other infections involving “stakeholders,” which include include broadcasting staffers, members of international federations and the media. There have been 308 cases among people involved with the Games since the count began Jan. 23.

S. Korea to Keep Distancing (9:02 a.m. HK)

South Korea will extend current social-distancing curbs, including limiting private gatherings to up to six people and 9 p.m. closing hours for restaurants and cafes, for another two weeks, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said.

The steps will be effective through Feb. 20. South Korea has been reporting unprecedented numbers of new cases. Daily infections hit a new record of 27,443 on Friday.

Indonesia to Review Restrictions (8:54 a.m. HK)

President Joko Widodo has ordered ministers responsible for overseeing the pandemic response to immediately review restrictions after a spike in cases.

Indonesia added the highest number of Covid-19 cases in almost six months as the more transmissible omicron variant spreads throughout the country.

Hong Kong Sees Record Cases: HK01 (8:29 a.m. HK)

Hong Kong will report at least 207 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, HK01 reported, citing unidentified people. That would be the highest daily total since the beginning of the pandemic.

N.Z. Welcomes Slow Spread of Omicron (7:54 a.m. HK)

The slow spread is giving more people the opportunity to receive boosters, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The strategy has to ensure the health system isn’t overwhelmed, she said. 

“Taken as a whole there is a range of factors that are making a difference to New Zealand’s experience of omicron versus other countries,” she said. “That’s a sign of success.”

Iowa, Maryland End Health Emergencies (5:57 p.m. NY)

Governor Kim Reynolds said she would allow Iowa’s public health emergency declaration, first issued near the start of the pandemic in March 2020, to expire on Feb. 15. 

“The flu and other infectious illnesses are part of our everyday lives, and coronavirus can be managed similarly,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

Health emergencies were declared at the start of the pandemic in all 50 states, and the expanded power of governors proved contentious in many of them. Roughly half of U.S. states have revoked them, and more are expected to do so as the surge caused by the omicron variant eases. Maryland, which includes part of the Washington metro area, allowed a 30-day state of emergency to expire on Thursday.  

Colorado Hopeful on Omicron Immunity (4:36 p.m. NY)

Public health modeling suggests 80% of Colorado residents could be “immune to infection” from the current omicron variant by mid-February, Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist, said during a Thursday briefing. At the same time, the number of omicron cases remains elevated “and we have a long way to come down,” said Scott Bookman, Covid-19 incident commander at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Johns Hopkins researchers estimate 70.1% of Coloradans are fully vaccinated.

Amex Tells NYC, U.K. Staff to Start Returning (2:15 p.m. NY)

American Express Co. is encouraging staffers in New York and the U.K. to start returning to the office early next month as Covid-19 cases recede globally.

AmEx has previously said most colleagues will work remotely at least part of the time even after the pandemic subsides. The firm asked New York staffers in those hybrid roles to begin coming back one day a week starting March 1 before a wider return on March 15, Chief Executive Officer Steve Squeri said in an internal memo Thursday seen by Bloomberg News.

Kids’ Vaccinations Plummet (1:53 p.m. NY)

Covid-19 vaccinations among children ages 5-11 have fallen to the lowest levels since the shots were first approved, a sign that parental enthusiasm for the shots may be running low even as authorities consider expanding the shots to even younger children.

The seven-day average of first doses fell to about 37,062 on Jan. 28, marking the slowest one-week period since the government approved the vaccines for those children on Nov. 2, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Just 31% of kids 5-11 have gotten a shot, compared with 75% of the total population.

Subvariant Has Spread Across Africa (8:50 a.m. NY)

The omicron subvariant known as BA.2 has been found across Africa, and countries should sequence more samples so the extent of its spread can be determined, the World Health Organization said. 

So far, the strain has been found in Senegal in West Africa, Kenya in East Africa and Malawi, Botswana and South Africa in southern Africa, Nicksy Gumede-Moeletsi, a virologist with the WHO, said Thursday on a conference call.

Subvariant Dominant in Denmark (8:22 a.m. NY)

The omicron subvariant BA.2 makes up 69% of confirmed cases in Denmark and will reach 100% by mid-February, according to a study from the Danish virus watchdog SSI. BA.2 is about 30% more contagious than the original omicron, known as BA.1, the study found.

While unvaccinated people have a bigger risk of contamination overall, those who have been vaccinated are more likely to catch the new strain than BA.1. Denmark lifted all its Covid restrictions on Tuesday despite record daily cases, as hospitalizations and the number of people with severe disease are gradually declining.

U.K. Regulator Clears Novavax Shot (7:41 a.m. NY)

Novavax Inc.’s vaccine won clearance from U.K. regulators for use in people aged 18 and over for a first and second dose. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said nuvaxovid, as the protein-based shot is known, will be the fifth Covid vaccine authorized for use in Britain. 

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the next step will be for the Independent Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccination, the government’s advisory panel on inoculations, to consider its use as part of the country’s Covid vaccination program. 

Europe Could See Covid ‘Ceasefire:’ WHO (6:43 a.m. NY)

Europe is at a crossroads in the fight against the pandemic with a potential “ceasefire” in sight, according to the director for the region at the World Health Organization.

While cases and hospitalizations from the omicron-driven wave are still rising in Europe, deaths are beginning to plateau, Hans Kluge told reporters Thursday. As the omicron wave recedes, Europeans will have a relatively high level of immunity derived from vaccines and from previous infections. 

“This period of higher protection should be seen as a ceasefire that can bring us enduring peace,” Kluge said.

EU Proposes to Extend Certificates (6:14 a.m. NY)

The European Union is proposing to extend its digital Covid certificate system for a year, until the end of June 2023, as it aims to facilitate travel even as many governments are easing or eliminating pandemic-related restrictions.

“Without this extension, we risk having many divergent national systems, and all the confusion and obstacles that this would cause,” Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said in a statement.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Africa’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is looking for a foothold in the U.S., the latest international platform to try and tap one of the world’s biggest populations of digital-asset investors.

Owned by conglomerate Digital Currency Group Inc., Luno is assessing regulatory regimes in all 50 states to allow for its rollout in the course of the year, Marius Reitz, its general manager for Africa, said in an interview. 

“It is more complex than launching in an individual market because of the different states and different regulations within each of these states, so there’s lots of moving parts,” Reitz said. “But it is a company focus for us for 2022.”

A number of fast-growing cryptocurrency exchange brands — such as FTX and Binance — have been moving into the U.S. market. The world’s biggest economy is home to more than half of the world’s crypto unicorns, according to CB Insights. A unicorn is a private startup that’s achieved a valuation of at least $1 billion.

Founded in 2013, Luno has 9 million users from Asia to Africa. It currently offers trading in tokens including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple — and could soon add new coins chosen from the world’s 10 most liquid cryptocurrencies, Reitz said.

“A lot of the operation time goes into security and custody” when choosing a coin, he said. 

Digital Currency Group was the earliest investor in Luno and acquired it entirely in 2020, going on a year later to achieve a $10 billion valuation when it raised $700 million in a transaction led by SoftBank Group Corp. 

Luno’s other early backers included Cape Town-based technology investor Naspers Ltd., Africa’s biggest listed company.

The spread of cryptocurrencies in Africa has so far centered on Nigeria and South Africa, where nearly a fifth of the population own some form of digital assets. That compares with the global average of just over 10%, according to the latest data from Finbold. Luno has also identified opportunities in East Africa, where it already has operations in Uganda, Reitz said. 

About 16% of Americans have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrency, a recent Pew Research Center survey showed. 

New Regulations 

In South Africa, Luno is awaiting new regulations that Reitz says are “imminent” and will likely boost consumer protections. The changes should allow platforms including Luno to pull in institutional investors currently sitting out of the market. 

The rules could also make possible the listing of more sophisticated products. Reitz said that, in a year or two, he anticipates offerings such as cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, which allow investors to hold a basket of coins without having to purchase them.

South Africa’s stock exchange operator JSE Ltd. has rebuffed efforts to list crypto ETFs before, citing a lack of a regulatory framework in the country.

“We have got all these asset managers sitting on the sidelines wanting to launch their own crypto products, but they’re not able to do so,” Reitz said. “As soon as we see regulation, you’ll see a flurry of crypto products being offered to investors in South Africa.”

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Myanmar’s military government plans to establish a digital currency to support domestic payments and boost the economy within the year and is assessing how to move forward, according to a top spokesman of the State Administration Council.

“We are undecided whether we should do it as a joint venture with local companies or by the government alone,” said Major General Zaw Min Tun, who is deputy information minister in the junta that toppled civilian government a year ago. “A digital currency will help improve financial activities in Myanmar.”

The World Bank estimates Myanmar’s economy shrank 18% in the fiscal year ended in September 2021, and forecasts growth of just 1% through September this year. Myanmar’s economy could have been 30% larger without the twin blows of the pandemic and coup, the international lender said in a report last week. 

News of the State Administration Council’s proposal comes two months after a group led by supporters of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi recognized Tether as an “official currency” for use in a fund-raising campaign that seeks to topple the military regime. Suu Kyi is currently in jail serving time for a slew of charges. 

Central banks around the world have been working for years to develop digital currencies, with some planning to deploy them for retail transactions and others opting to restrict them to interbank use. China, whose digital yuan project is among the most advanced, has been developing it since at least 2014. 

“We think the country is not in the best position to be able to pursue something like this,” Kim Edwards, the World Bank’s senior economist for Myanmar, said at a press conference last week. It would need a very good regulatory structure and high capacity within the administration to make it happen, he said.  

The director-general of Central Bank of Myanmar’s currency-management department, Win Myint, said “at this point, we are still learning about digital currencies and having discussions. We need to consider both pros and cons.”

Myanmar isn’t the only ailing economy mulling crytpo projects. The Venezuelan National Assembly last month accepted for consideration a bill to establish provisions for digital-currency transactions. Inflation in bolivars, the local currency, has slowed to an annual pace of 53% in the past three months, down from well north of 1,000% in recent years, according to a Bloomberg index.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong stocks played catch-up to gains in global equities as trading resumed after the Lunar New Year holidays, with a rally in financials outweighing the impact of an overnight tech rout in the U.S.

The Hang Seng Index jumped as much as 2.7% on Friday, on track for its biggest such post-holiday jump since 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. HSBC Holdings Plc and AIA Group Ltd. were among those leading gains. The Hang Seng Tech Index also climbed 2.7% before paring some of its advance. Mainland China markets will reopen on Monday.   

Global equity markets have endured volatility while Hong Kong was closed. While that led some to expect fluctuations as trading in the city’s shares resumed, the benchmark equity index has got a boost from financial stocks after a hawkish pivot by central banks in Europe brightened the outlook for the sector on higher rates. Gains were also seen in certain sectors linked to the Winter Olympics, such as sportswear brands.

There is “more upside” possible in the medium term as China eases monetary and fiscal policies further to support economic growth, said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian Hong Kong Ltd. A positive open is very likely to make “the Hang Seng Index test 24,500 level,” which is around the gauge’s 100-day moving average, he said.   

Hang Seng’s gains come after shares of Chinese companies listed in the U.S. advanced during the holiday period. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index — which includes many large Chinese technology firms — has jumped 5% since Hong Kong last traded on mid-day Monday, helped in part by encouraging commentary from the country’s cyberspace watchdog.

Equity benchmarks in Seoul, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur on Thursday had all posted post-holiday jumps, providing some reassurance for a positive open in Hong Kong. The U.S. tech selloff Thursday also showed signs of easing in late trading after Amazon.com Inc. and Snap Inc. soared on quarterly results.

Yet there are significant threats to a sustained recovery in Hong Kong and mainland stocks, even as an increasing number of global banks turn bullish on them.  

Some investors continue to sell into rallies, China’s property market distress remains acute and the slowing pace of economic growth continues to weigh. Positive statements toward the technology sector have yet to undo the damage inflicted on the business models of many internet platforms over the past year.

On top of all this, the mainland’s CSI 300 Index entered a bear market last week despite Beijing’s efforts to bolster confidence going into the holiday, and the central bank’s earlier pivot to stimulus.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index had fallen into a bear market much earlier, in August, and remains down more than 20% from its peak in February last year.

“It will be a wild ride in fits and starts,” said Wai Ho Leong, a strategist at Modular Asset Management. Overvalued big tech stocks are “the most vulnerable to corrective bouts,” he said, pointing toward the volatility seen in Nasdaq 100 Index in recent days. 

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong will report record new infections on Friday, according to local media, a day after a top official warned of the potential burden on the health system. South Korea will extend limits on social gatherings and dining out for two weeks after unprecedented case numbers.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered an immediate review of Covid-19 restrictions after a spike in infections. In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country is managing to slow the spread of omicron, winning time to administer booster shots. 

Covid-19 vaccinations among U.S. children aged 5-11 have fallen to the lowest levels since the shots were first approved. Brazil’s daily infections climbed to their highest level since the pandemic began.

Key Developments:

• Virus Tracker: Cases top 387.5 million; deaths pass 5.7 million
• Vaccine Tracker: More than 10.1 billion shots administered
• Covid’s endemic shift means slowdown for virus-product makers
• New virus research will speed NIH’s next outbreak response
• What we know about omicron and its subvariant BA.2: QuickTake
• Sign up for the free Coronavirus Daily newsletter here

S. Korea to Keep Distancing (9:02 a.m. HK)

South Korea will extend current social-distancing curbs, including limiting private gatherings to up to six people and 9 p.m. closing hours for restaurants and cafes, for another two weeks, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said.

The steps will be effective through Feb. 20. South Korea has been reporting unprecedented numbers of new cases. Daily infections hit a new record of 27,443 on Friday.

Indonesia to Review Restrictions (8:54 a.m. HK)

President Joko Widodo has ordered ministers responsible for overseeing the pandemic response to immediately review restrictions after a spike in cases.

Indonesia added the highest number of Covid-19 cases in almost six months as the more transmissible omicron variant spreads throughout the country.

Hong Kong Sees Record Cases: HK01 (8:29 a.m. HK)

Hong Kong will report at least 207 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, HK01 reported, citing unidentified people.

That would be the highest daily total since the beginning of the pandemic.

N.Z. Welcomes Slow Spread of Omicron (7:54 a.m. HK)

The slow spread is giving more people the opportunity to receive boosters, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The strategy has to ensure the health system isn’t overwhelmed, she said. 

“Taken as a whole there is a range of factors that are making a difference to New Zealand’s experience of omicron versus other countries,” she said. “That’s a sign of success.”

Iowa, Maryland End Health Emergencies (5:57 p.m. NY)

Governor Kim Reynolds said she would allow Iowa’s public health emergency declaration, first issued near the start of the pandemic in March 2020, to expire on Feb. 15. 

“The flu and other infectious illnesses are part of our everyday lives, and coronavirus can be managed similarly,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

Health emergencies were declared at the start of the pandemic in all 50 states, and the expanded power of governors proved contentious in many of them. Roughly half of U.S. states have revoked them, and more are expected to do so as the surge caused by the omicron variant eases. Maryland, which includes part of the Washington metro area, allowed a 30-day state of emergency to expire on Thursday.  

Colorado Hopeful on Omicron Immunity (4:36 p.m. NY)

Public health modeling suggests 80% of Colorado residents could be “immune to infection” from the current omicron variant by mid-February, Rachel Herlihy, state epidemiologist, said during a Thursday briefing. At the same time, the number of omicron cases remains elevated “and we have a long way to come down,” said Scott Bookman, Covid-19 incident commander at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Johns Hopkins researchers estimate 70.1% of Coloradans are fully vaccinated.

Medicare to Cover Free Home Tests (2:46 p.m. NY)

Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get up to eight free over-the-counter Covid-19 tests per month beginning in early spring, the Biden administration announced Thursday.

The new initiative will allow Medicare to directly pay participating pharmacies and other entities for over-the-counter tests approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.

Amex Tells NYC, U.K. Staff to Start Returning (2:15 p.m. NY)

American Express Co. is encouraging staffers in New York and the U.K. to start returning to the office early next month as Covid-19 cases recede globally.

AmEx has previously said most colleagues will work remotely at least part of the time even after the pandemic subsides. The firm asked New York staffers in those hybrid roles to begin coming back one day a week starting March 1 before a wider return on March 15, Chief Executive Officer Steve Squeri said in an internal memo Thursday seen by Bloomberg News.

Kids’ Vaccinations Plummet (1:53 p.m. NY)

Covid-19 vaccinations among children ages 5-11 have fallen to the lowest levels since the shots were first approved, a sign that parental enthusiasm for the shots may be running low even as authorities consider expanding the shots to even younger children.

The seven-day average of first doses fell to about 37,062 on Jan. 28, marking the slowest one-week period since the government approved the vaccines for those children on Nov. 2, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Just 31% of kids 5-11 have gotten a shot, compared with 75% of the total population.

Subvariant Has Spread Across Africa (8:50 a.m. NY)

The omicron subvariant known as BA.2 has been found across Africa, and countries should sequence more samples so the extent of its spread can be determined, the World Health Organization said. 

So far, the strain has been found in Senegal in West Africa, Kenya in East Africa and Malawi, Botswana and South Africa in southern Africa, Nicksy Gumede-Moeletsi, a virologist with the WHO, said Thursday on a conference call.

Subvariant Dominant in Denmark (8:22 a.m. NY)

The omicron subvariant BA.2 makes up 69% of confirmed cases in Denmark and will reach 100% by mid-February, according to a study from the Danish virus watchdog SSI. BA.2 is about 30% more contagious than the original omicron, known as BA.1, the study found.

While unvaccinated people have a bigger risk of contamination overall, those who have been vaccinated are more likely to catch the new strain than BA.1. Denmark lifted all its Covid restrictions on Tuesday despite record daily cases, as hospitalizations and the number of people with severe disease are gradually declining.

U.K. Regulator Clears Novavax Shot (7:41 a.m. NY)

Novavax Inc.’s vaccine won clearance from U.K. regulators for use in people aged 18 and over for a first and second dose. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said nuvaxovid, as the protein-based shot is known, will be the fifth Covid vaccine authorized for use in Britain. 

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the next step will be for the Independent Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccination, the government’s advisory panel on inoculations, to consider its use as part of the country’s Covid vaccination program. 

Europe Could See Covid ‘Ceasefire:’ WHO (6:43 a.m. NY)

Europe is at a crossroads in the fight against the pandemic with a potential “ceasefire” in sight, according to the director for the region at the World Health Organization.

While cases and hospitalizations from the omicron-driven wave are still rising in Europe, deaths are beginning to plateau, Hans Kluge told reporters Thursday. As the omicron wave recedes, Europeans will have a relatively high level of immunity derived from vaccines and from previous infections. 

“This period of higher protection should be seen as a ceasefire that can bring us enduring peace,” Kluge said. He urged a “drastic” increase in vaccinations, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries.

EU Proposes to Extend Certificates (6:14 a.m. NY)

The European Union is proposing to extend its digital Covid certificate system for a year, until the end of June 2023, as it aims to facilitate travel even as many governments are easing or eliminating pandemic-related restrictions.

“Without this extension, we risk having many divergent national systems, and all the confusion and obstacles that this would cause,” Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said in a statement.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — Toshiba Corp. will build a new 300-millimeter wafer fabrication plant for power semiconductors that will more than double its production capacity by March 2025, the company announced Friday.

Construction of the new facility in Ishikawa Prefecture in western Japan will take place in two phases, the company said. When the first phase is fully operational, Toshiba’s power semiconductor capacity will be 2.5 times larger than in fiscal 2021. Toshiba will invest about 100 billion yen ($870 million) to build the facility, the Nikkei newspaper reported earlier.

The move comes as car and electronics makers struggle to procure even basic chips for routine tasks such as power management and wireless connectivity. TDK Corp. warned last month that shortages of components are unlikely to abate for the rest of this year, while console makers Sony Group Corp. and Nintendo Co. this week said they expect semiconductor and shipping challenges to persist.

Nintendo Cuts Switch Outlook Again on Supply, Logistics Jam

Vehicle electrification and the automation of industrial equipment are two major trends driving up demand for power-regulating chips, Toshiba said in its statement. It is targeting 100% reliance on renewable energy for the fab, it said.

Toshiba said in September it was struggling to fulfill orders last year because of shortages of materials and output capacity. Despite investor concern that demand will evaporate after the pandemic-fueled frenzy for electronics, the company is confident that orders will keep growing rapidly enough to sell out all its production lines for years to come.

Toshiba Warns Power-Chip Supply to Stay Tight for Another Year

The announcement comes shortly before Toshiba is due to brief investors on its business strategies next week as it tussles with activist shareholders over the future of the company.

The company said in November that it plans to split into three firms as a way to create value for shareholders. But one major stock holder has publicly questioned the plan, while another leading investor has called on Toshiba to rebuild trust with shareholders after years of scandals and corporate governance issues.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — The biggest test of Texas’s newly fortified power grid will arrive around sunrise Friday, when electricity demand may set a record as waking residents crank up their heaters in the sub-freezing cold. 

The state’s electrical system, which collapsed nearly a year ago during a brutal cold snap and left more than 200 people dead, was expected to pass the trial. But success was not guaranteed. Critics have warned for months that grid managers and utilities haven’t done enough to winterize the system, while Governor Greg Abbott and other politicians have tried to reassure Texans the state was ready. 

Blackouts struck only a few pockets of the sprawling state on Thursday, as daytime highs dropped below 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 Celsius). Natural gas continued to flow through the pipelines that feed many of the state’s power plants, with limited disruptions. And wind turbines, whose poor performance during last year’s deep freeze become the focus of Abbott’s scorn, supplied far more power than expected, keeping electric heaters humming.

Colder temperatures were expected overnight, reaching their low around dawn on Friday. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs the power grid, said electricity demand could set a winter record of 73.5 gigawatts, close to the state’s summer high of 74.8 gigawatts. Typically, a gigawatt is enough to power about 200,000 Texas homes.

Abbott said Thursday the system was prepared. “The Texas power grid is the most reliable and resilient it’s ever been,” he said at a press conference.

About 30,000 homes and businesses were without power late on Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages reported on utility websites. 

“These are localized outages that are not related to system-wide reliability issues,” Peter Lake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, said at a media briefing. “The grid remains strong, reliable, and it is performing well in this winter-weather event.”

See: Texas Had All Year to Prep for Cold, and It’s Not Ready  

Texas has been bracing for the worst in this latest storm, which is part of a massive cold front that stretches to Maine. Many schools, universities and churches have closed, while gocery stores have been left depleted as residents stocked up on food. Even sea turtles off the Texas coast are under threat from the cold.

While it’s cold in Texas now, the worst will come overnight, according to William Iwasko, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Lubbock office. Temperatures in the Panhandle region could fall to minus 3 degrees and Dallas may get down to 13 degrees. However, the storm is moving through fairly quickly, and temperatures could be close to normal on Saturday. That would be a key difference from last year’s storm, which lingered for days.

“It’s obviously quite cold, but the duration of that cold won’t be very long,” Iwasko said.

Some natural gas wells have frozen in Texas and neighboring Oklahoma, shutting about 5% of overall domestic output during the peak demand season for the furnace and power-plant fuel, according to Jade Patterson, an analyst at BloombergNEF. The interruptions will take as long as five days to restore once temperatures moderate, he said.

Meanwhile, wind is providing an unexpected benefit to the state’s electrical grid. Wind farms were producing about 17.5 gigawatts on Thursday morning, well above prior forecasts, to account for about 30% of the grid’s electricity supply, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. 

“We expected significant icing in the western part of the state,” Ercot Interim Chief Executive Officer Brad Jones said in the briefing. “That has not occurred as severely as expected.”

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — U.S. equity futures rose Friday as Amazon.com Inc. earnings soothed nerves, while a climb in Hong Kong shares aided Asia. Bonds fell on an ever-louder hawkish chorus from key central banks.

Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up about 1.5% after e-commerce titan Amazon and Snap Inc. soared in late trading on strong earnings. A tech index advanced in Hong Kong — which reopened from a prolonged holiday — helping to steady MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific gauge. Japanese equities dipped.

The Nasdaq 100 fell the most since 2020 on Thursday, hurt by a historic $251 billion wipeout for Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. But Amazon could add nearly $200 billion in market value if the stock’s 14% gain in after-hours trading holds to Friday’s Wall Street close.

Meanwhile, surprisingly hawkish comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and a Bank of England interest-rate hike highlighted persistent concerns about high inflation. 

That hurt sovereign debt: Japan’s five-year government bond yield increased to zero for the first time since 2016, following a jump in European yields and selling in Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year U.S. yield was around 1.84%.

The euro added to a rally and the dollar retreated. West Texas Intermediate oil stayed above $90 a barrel after scaling the mark for the first time since 2014.

The latest turbulence underscores how volatility has become the hallmark of global markets this year. Investors are trying to come to grips with less favorable monetary conditions just as the economic recovery from the pandemic show signs of moderating. 

“The first half this year we are now experiencing a rates shock,” Tracy Chen, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “If the Fed and BOE and other EM central banks are too aggressive in hiking interest rates, potentially we are going to face kind of a recession risk in the second half, or at least more slowdown in the economy.”

The latest data showed U.S. service-sector growth pulled back in January to the slowest pace in nearly a year. Meanwhile, U.S. initial jobless claims fell more than expected last week to 238,000 ahead of data on payrolls Friday. 

The looming jobs report “is a reminder that expectations for Fed policy are the key influence on this market right now,” wrote Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded The Sevens Report newsletter. A hot inflation print next week would “rekindle hawkish Fed concerns,” he added.

For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.

What to watch this week:

• U.S. payrolls report for January, Friday
• Winter Olympics kick off in China, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin due to attend opening ceremony, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 0.9% as of 10:44 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 fell 2.4%
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.5%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 4.2%
• Japan’s Topix index fell 0.4%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index shed 0.4%
• South Korea’s Kospi index increased 0.7%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.8%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
• The euro was at $1.1449
• The Japanese yen was at 114.84 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was at 6.3571 per dollar

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.84%
• Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose seven basis points to 1.94%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was at $90.77 a barrel, up 0.5%
• Gold was at $1,806.71 an ounce, up 0.1%

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

(Bloomberg) — U.S. equity futures rose and Asian stocks were steady Friday as Amazon.com Inc. earnings stemmed a technology rout. Worries over monetary tightening are also whipsawing markets, leaving bond yields higher.

Contracts on the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed, the latter nearly 2%, after e-commerce titan Amazon and Snap Inc. soared in late trading on strong earnings. Shares in Japan and Australia wavered and South Korea rose.

The Nasdaq 100 fell the most since 2020 on Thursday, hurt by a historic $251 billion wipeout for Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. But Amazon could add nearly $200 billion in market value if the stock’s 14% gain in after-hours trading holds to Friday’s Wall Street close.

Meanwhile, surprisingly hawkish comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and a Bank of England interest-rate hike highlighted persistent concerns about high inflation. 

That zapped sovereign debt: Japan’s five-year government bond yield advanced to zero for the first time since 2016, following a jump in European yields and renewed selling in U.S. Treasuries.

The euro added to a rally and the dollar retreated. West Texas Intermediate oil stayed above $90 a barrel after scaling the mark for the first time since 2014.

The latest turbulence underscores how volatility has become the hallmark of global markets this year. Investors are trying to come to grips with less favorable monetary conditions just as the economic recovery from the pandemic show signs of moderating. 

“The first half this year we are now experiencing a rates shock,” Tracy Chen, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “If the Fed and BOE and other EM central banks are too aggressive in hiking interest rates, potentially we are going to face kind of a recession risk in the second half, or at least more slowdown in the economy.”

The latest data showed U.S. service-sector growth pulled back in January to the slowest pace in nearly a year. Meanwhile, U.S. initial jobless claims fell more than expected last week to 238,000 ahead of data on payrolls Friday. 

The looming jobs report “is a reminder that expectations for Fed policy are the key influence on this market right now,” wrote Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded The Sevens Report newsletter. A hot inflation print next week would “rekindle hawkish Fed concerns,” he added.

For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.

What to watch this week:

• U.S. payrolls report for January, Friday
• Winter Olympics kick off in China, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin due to attend opening ceremony, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures rose 1% as of 10:11 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 fell 2.4%
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.8%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 4.2%
• Japan’s Topix index fell 0.2%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index shed 0.1%
• South Korea’s Kospi index increased 0.9%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
• The euro was at $1.1451
• The Japanese yen was at 114.93 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was at 6.3537 per dollar

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.84%
• Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose eight basis points to 1.95%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was at $90.70 a barrel, up 0.5%
• Gold was at $1,806.36 an ounce, up 0.1%

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.