Bloomberg Australia is close to reaching a deal to produce a Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday. “We are in advanced negotiations with a range of different companies with regards to a vaccine,” Hunt said on Sky News. He said he was “genuinely optimistic” a coronavirus vaccine would be internationally available by next year. The federal government ...

Bloomberg The Federal Reserve could allow inflation to accelerate above its 2% goal if has underperformed it in the past, said Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan. “I would be willing to see inflation run moderately above 2% in the aftermath of periods where we’ve been running persistently below,” Kaplan said in a virtual event with the Dallas Friday Group, a ...

Bloomberg Two US banking giants are rolling out more benefits to parents juggling childcare and home schooling while keeping the companies running through the pandemic. Citigroup Inc. will offer employees discounts on test preparation and tutoring services as many continue to work from home while their kids start the new school year. Bank of America Corp. (BofA) is extending backup ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and several foreign lenders operating in the US will face the stiffest capital demands under the Federal Reserve’s first set of big-bank requirements to incorporate the regulator’s new stress buffer. The capital levels, determined by the Fed’s most recent stress-test process, give Goldman Sachs the highest target among domestic banks, with an overall ...

Bloomberg Monetary policy makers of the Democratic Republic of Congo more than doubled the central bank’s benchmark interest rate amid a depreciating currency and the mounting inflationary pressures. The rate was increased to 18.5% from 7.5%, central bank Governor Deogratias Mutombo said in a statement shared by a spokesman from the institution. It’s at the highest level since April 2018. ...

Bloomberg Even for Citigroup Inc., it was big money. The loan operations staff at the New York bank wired $900 million, seemingly on behalf of Revlon Inc., to lenders of the troubled cosmetics giant controlled by billionaire Ron Perelman. It was a mistake for the ages — a “clerical error,” as Citigroup told lenders — that’s now plunged the bank ...

Bloomberg The biggest US and European banks added 19,000 people to their payrolls in first half of year as demand for loans and other services surged during the pandemic and planned staff cuts were largely put on hold. Eight of the top 15 firms increased headcount this year through June, while only four reduced it. Three lenders’ staff levels were ...

Bloomberg This week’s run-up in US stocks towards their highest levels on record seems an anomaly, considering the political breakdown over a $1 trillion-plus fiscal stimulus package, and it’s spurring concerns from Wall Street to Capitol Hill. Federal Reserve officials and private economists alike have emphasised that a sharp drop-off in government spending imperils a recovery from the historic collapse ...

Bloomberg Gold posted its first weekly drop in more than two months after being buffeted by climbing real yields, profit-taking and uncertainty over US-China trade talks. Bullion is ending a week filled with big price fluctuations on a relatively tame note, trading at more than $100 an ounce below last week’s record after dropping the most in seven years. Both ...

Bloomberg Oil squeezed out a gain for the second straight week but uncertainty around the US-China trade deal and fears of a resurgent pandemic limited the price rally. Crude futures in New York fell 0.5%, but rise 1.9% for the week. The US and China postponed talks planned for over the weekend that had been aimed at reviewing progress at ...