US Business

An uncrewed Blue Origin rocket carrying research payloads crashed shortly after liftoff from Texas on Monday, but the capsule carrying experiments escaped and floated safely back to Earth.

The incident marked a setback for Amazon founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos’ company as well as the space tourism sector, though observers were encouraged by the fact that had people been aboard, they would have likely survived.

Blue Origin tweeted a short video clip showing the moment when the capsule fired emergency thrusters to separate itself from its booster rocket early, around a minute after launching from the company’s base in west Texas.

“Booster failure on today’s uncrewed flight. Escape system performed as designed,” Blue said on its website, noting the rocket “impacted the ground” instead of landing upright as it normally does. 

The New Shepard suborbital rockets have been grounded pending an investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said, which is standard procedure.

“The capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area. No injuries or public property damage have been reported,” the FAA added.

It was the 23rd mission for the New Shepard rocket program, named after the first American in space, and the first to end in failure. 

NS-23, which had 36 experiments on board, was first set to launch in late August, but was delayed due to inclement weather.

The anomaly occurred as the rocket was climbing at 700 miles per hour (1,126 kilometers per hour) at an altitude of about 28,000 feet (8,500 meters).  The rocket appeared to stall as it experienced the technical issue.

The capsule then initiated its escape sequence and outsped the booster, which it engulfed in bright yellow flames.

The incident marks a setback for both Blue Origin and the nascent space tourism industry.

– ‘Escape system worked well’ –

But billionaire entrepreneur Jareed Isaacman, who chartered a private space mission with SpaceX last year, tweeted “looks like the launch escape system worked well.”

“With so many launches, so many vehicles, engines and boosters in development across the industry, it should not be that surprising to see events like this,” Isaacman added.

Blue Origin began flying humans to space on 10-minute there and back rides last year for an unspecified ticket price. 

In all it has flown 32 people — some as paying customers and others as guests. Notable passengers include founder Bezos and Star Trek icon William Shatner.

Passengers experience a few minutes’ weightlessness and observe the curve of the Earth before the capsule re-enters the atmosphere and floats down for a gentle desert landing.

Other companies offering tourism experiences include Virgin Galactic, which hasn’t flown since carrying its founder Richard Branson to the edge of space in July 2021.

While Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin offer short jaunts to the cosmos, Elon Musk’s SpaceX works with another company called Axiom Space to offer longer missions to the International Space Station. 

Stock markets rallied Monday, building on pre-weekend momentum as investors priced in the expectation of further interest rate hikes aimed at taming decades-high inflation.

The euro surged against main rivals, a day after German central bank chief Joachim Nagel signalled that the European Central Bank (ECB) would probably continue raising its key rate.

The European single currency rocketed more than 1.4 percent against the dollar and 1.6 percent versus the yen before trimming gains around midday.

The ECB raised the key rate by a historic 75 basis points last week, and markets expect a similar-sized hike at an October meeting.

Frankfurt led the way, closing more than two percent higher, followed by Paris and London not far behind after data showed the British economy rebounded slightly in July.

On Wall Street, stocks also advanced extending last week’s rally.

Tokyo closed with a gain of more than one percent thanks to a weaker yen. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea were closed for a public holiday.

Investors worldwide are awaiting key US inflation data for August, due Tuesday, with the consumer price index (CPI) expected to ease slightly to eight percent — still well above the Fed’s two-percent target.

Traders expect the Fed to impose another large rate hike next week, after two 75-basis-point increases already.

Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said he expected stocks to “continue to drift higher” ahead of Tuesday’s CPI data.

The inflation print “may well see further improvement as petrol prices have continued to pull back”, he said. 

Oil prices gained Monday but remain pressured by the possibility of global demand weakening as growth slows and China’s harsh zero-Covid policy continues to sap economic activity.

– ‘Soft landing’ hopes –

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said she was hopeful the US economy could avoid a recession, but that the Fed would need to skilfully manage interest rates and also rely on “some good luck to achieve what we sometimes call a soft landing.

“My hope is we will achieve a soft landing, but Americans know it’s essential to bring inflation down and, over the longer run, we can’t have a strong labour market without inflation under control,” she told CNN.

Yellen said that while the US economy’s growth rate was slowing, the labour market remained “exceptionally strong”, with almost two openings for every jobseeker.

The release on Tuesday of the consumer price index will “provide some telling inflation data that will influence the market’s perspective on the Fed’s monetary policy approach”, analyst Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com said.

– Key figures at around 1545 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: UP 1.7 percent at 7,473.03 points (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 2.4 percent at 13,402.27 points (close)  

Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.95 percent at 6,333.59 points (close)  

EURO STOXX 50: UP 2.1 percent at 3,646.51 points

New York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 32,395.08 points  

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 28,542.11 (close) 

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: closed for public holiday

Shanghai – Composite: closed for public holiday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0129 from $1.0046 

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1699 from $1.1587 

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.56 pence from 86.84 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 142.45 yen from 142.56 yen 

Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.0 percent at $94.73 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.95 percent at $88.48 per barrel

President Joe Biden issued an executive order Monday boosting the US biotech sector as part of his Cancer Moonshot initiative, which invokes the national effort to land a man on the Moon 60 years ago.

The Democrat was in Boston for an address deliberately set to echo John F. Kennedy’s famous 1962 “Moonshot speech” in which he called for landing an American on the lunar surface — something achieved in 1969.

This time, Biden is pushing for government-backed efforts to coordinate and fund a multilayered fight against cancer, with the goal of halving cancer death rates in the next 25 years.

As he set off from Washington, Biden issued an order meant to bolster the trailblazing US biotech sector’s efforts to take on growing commercial rivals in China.

The order brings federal support for “areas that will define US biotechnology leadership and our economic competitiveness in the coming decades,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters.

The official said that while US biotech research leads the world, the industrial applications are increasingly in the hands of other countries.

“Unless we translate biotechnology innovation into economic and societal benefits for all Americans, other countries, including and especially China, are aggressively investing in this sector,” posing a “risk,” the official said.

The White House says the US biotech industry is on the cutting edge of medical advances — recently seen in the rapid development of vaccines, tests and therapeutics to help manage the Covid-19 pandemic — but that the potential scope goes much further.

The official speaking to reporters cited studies suggesting that “before the end of the decade, engineering biology holds the potential to be used in manufacturing industry that accounts for more than one third of global output. That’s equivalent to almost $30 trillion in terms of value.”

Growing areas for biotech industry include new plastics and rubbers, jet fuel, and environmentally friendly fertilizers.

– Personal issue for Biden –

The battle against cancer is personal for Biden: his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 when Biden was vice president to Barack Obama.

In his speech at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston, Biden will lay out how his administration is seeking to slash cancer rates through a systemic revamp of government funding and support for everything from medical research to improving access to healthcare and better environmental conditions.

The linkage to the Moon program will seek to raise public awareness and support ahead of midterm congressional elections where the Democrats face the possibility of a Republican sweep in Congress, something which would severely complicate the next two years of Biden’s first term.

Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia and daughter of the assassinated JFK, told CNN she approved of the parallels drawn by Biden in the struggle to conquer the deadly disease.

“Sixty years after my father challenged Americans to land on the moon, President Biden is welcoming great challenges as new opportunities by setting us on a bold course to end cancer as we know it,” she said.

Biden’s focus on the cancer fight comes as NASA is once again looking to return to the Moon.

Stock markets rallied Monday, building on pre-weekend momentum as investors priced in the expectation of further interest rate hikes aimed at taming decades-high inflation.

The euro surged against main rivals, a day after German central bank chief Joachim Nagel signalled that the European Central Bank (ECB) would probably continue raising its key rate.

The European single currency rocketed more than 1.4 percent against the dollar and 1.6 percent versus the yen before trimming gains around midday.

The ECB raised the key rate by a historic 75 basis points last week, and markets expect a similar-sized hike at an October meeting.

Paris and Frankfurt stock markets rose by more than two percent in mid-afternoon trading, with London not far behind as data showed the British economy rebounded slightly in July.

Tokyo closed with a gain of more than one percent thanks to a weaker yen. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea were closed for a public holiday.

Investors worldwide are awaiting key US inflation data for August, due Tuesday, with the consumer price index (CPI) expected to ease slightly to eight percent — still well above the Fed’s two-percent target.

Traders expect the Fed to impose another large rate hike next week, after two 75-basis-point increases already.

Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said he expected stocks to “continue to drift higher” ahead of Tuesday’s CPI data.

The inflation print “may well see further improvement as petrol prices have continued to pull back”, he said. 

Oil prices gained more than one percent Monday but remain pressured by the possibility of global demand weakening as growth slows and China’s harsh zero-Covid policy continues to sap economic activity.

– ‘Soft landing’ hopes –

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said she was hopeful the US economy could avoid a recession, but that the Fed would need to skilfully manage interest rates and also rely on “some good luck to achieve what we sometimes call a soft landing”.

“My hope is we will achieve a soft landing, but Americans know it’s essential to bring inflation down and, over the longer run, we can’t have a strong labour market without inflation under control,” she told CNN.

Yellen said that while the US economy’s growth rate was slowing, the labour market remained “exceptionally strong”, with almost two openings for every jobseeker.

The release on Tuesday of the consumer price index will “provide some telling inflation data that will influence the market’s perspective on the Fed’s monetary policy approach”, analyst Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com said.

– Key figures at around 1355 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: UP 1.5 percent at 7,462.13  points

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 2.2 percent at 13,368.57 

Paris – CAC 40: UP 2.1 percent at 6,341.10 

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.96 percent at 3,640.18

New York – Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 32,387.10 

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 28,542.11 (close) 

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: closed for public holiday

Shanghai – Composite: closed for public holiday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0116 from $1.0046 

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1679 from $1.1587  

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.60 pence from 86.84 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 142.66 yen from 142.56 yen 

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.5 percent at $94.20 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $88.02 per barrel

Stock markets rallied Monday, building on pre-weekend momentum as investors priced in the expectation of further interest rate hikes aimed at taming decades-high inflation.

The euro surged against main rivals, a day after German central bank chief Joachim Nagel signalled that the European Central Bank (ECB) would probably continue raising its key rate.

The European single currency rocketed more than 1.4 percent against the dollar and 1.6 percent versus the yen before trimming gains around midday.

The ECB raised the key rate by a historic 75 basis points last week, and markets expect a similar-sized hike at an October meeting.

London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets were up about 1.5 percent nearing the half-way stage, with Tokyo closing with a gain of more than one percent thanks to a weaker yen.

Markets in Hong Kong, China and South Korea were closed for a public holiday.

Investors worldwide are awaiting key US inflation data for August, due Tuesday, with the consumer price index (CPI) expected to ease slightly to eight percent — still well above the Fed’s two-percent target.

Traders expect the Fed to impose another large rate hike next week, after two 75-basis-point increases already.

Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said he expected stocks to “continue to drift higher” ahead of Tuesday’s CPI data.

The inflation print “may well see further improvement as petrol prices have continued to pull back”, he said. 

Oil prices gained one percent Monday but remain pressured by the possibility of global demand weakening as growth slows and China’s harsh zero-Covid policy continues to sap economic activity.

– ‘Soft landing’ hopes –

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said she was hopeful the US economy could avoid a recession, but that the Fed would need to skilfully manage interest rates and also rely on “some good luck to achieve what we sometimes call a soft landing”.

“My hope is we will achieve a soft landing, but Americans know it’s essential to bring inflation down and, over the longer run, we can’t have a strong labour market without inflation under control,” she told CNN.

Yellen said that while the US economy’s growth rate was slowing, the labour market remained “exceptionally strong”, with almost two openings for every jobseeker.

– Key figures at around 1100 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: UP 1.3 percent at 7,449.84 points

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.6 percent at 13,302.93

Paris – CAC 40: UP 1.3 percent at 6,292.35

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.4 percent at 3,621.58

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 28,542.11 (close) 

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: closed for public holiday

Shanghai – Composite: closed for public holiday

New York – Dow: UP 1.2 percent at 32,151.71 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0145 from $1.0046 

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1683 from $1.1587  

Euro/pound: FLAT at 86.84 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 142.62 yen from 142.56 yen 

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.1 percent at $93.86 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.0 percent at $87.66 per barrel

An auction to pay out insurance on Russia’s unpaid debt was due to take place on Monday, an event formally marking the sanctions-hit country’s first foreign default in more than a century.

Moscow was unable to transfer funds to creditors in June due to Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

The failure to pay its debt kicked off a complicated process to compensate investors who bought credit default swaps (CDS), a sort of insurance that bondholders purchase to protect against default by borrowers.

But the auction was repeatedly delayed as organisers had to ensure that the sanctions would not block the CDS payouts.

The country last defaulted on its foreign debt in 1918, when Bolshevik revolution leader Vladimir Lenin refused to recognise the massive debts of the deposed tsar’s regime.

Russia defaulted on domestic debt in 1998 when, due to a drop in commodity prices, it faced a financial squeeze that prevented it from propping up the ruble and paying off debts that accumulated during the first war in Chechnya.

The latest default follows a series of unprecedented Western sanctions that have isolated Russia from the global financial system, including a freeze on Moscow’s $300 billion in foreign currency reserves held abroad.

Russia lost the last avenue to service its foreign-currency loans after the United States removed an exemption in May that had allowed US investors to receive Moscow’s payments.

Russian authorities have insisted throughout that they have the funds to honour the country’s debt, calling the predicament a “farce” and accusing the West of pushing an “artificial” default.

Moscow’s foreign currency debt is relatively low, at around $40 billion.

But the sanctions prevented it from paying bond holders in June.

– ‘Credit event’ –

International ratings agencies, the institutions that decide whether are country is in default, were unable to officially declare whether Russia was in default due to sanctions prohibiting them from covering Moscow’s debt.

But Moody’s ratings agency released a less formal “issuer comment” saying missed payments on interest totalling $100 million amounted to a default.

The official ruling was therefore left in the hands of a little-known panel of investors, the Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee (CDDC), which organises CDS auctions.

In late June, the London-based CDDC — made up of 15 leading banks and financial firms — declared that Russia’s missed payment constituted a “credit event”.

CDS auctions are usually held around 30 days after the committee declares a credit event, but doubts over whether the sanctions allowed the process to take place caused the three-month delay.

Foreign investors are no longer able to trade Russian bonds, and the auctions are essentially transactions involving such assets.

But the US Treasury Department issued a waiver in July to allow the auction on eight Russian bonds to take place this month.

JPMorgan, the investment firm, says the CDS against Russian default are worth almost $2.4 billion.

The auction takes place in two stages. The first stage will set an initial price on the eight bonds, which will serve as a base to fix the final price for compensation in a second stage open more widely to investors.

The CDDC said the settlement dates for the auction could be slightly delayed due to a bank holiday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19.