August, 2021

• 29 August

  Chinese official rejects US report on virus probe

  

  Bloomberg A senior Chinese health official rejected a US report blaming China for stonewalling an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. China opposes the politicisation of tracing the origins of the virus or using the subject as a tool to shift blame, according to Zeng Yixin, vice head of National Health Commission. The US should treat origins tracing as ...

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• 29 August

  Germany’s SPD overtakes Merkel’s bloc in poll

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s Social Democrats rose to an almost four-year high in a weekly poll, adding to evidence that they’re pulling ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc before a national election on September 26. INSA’s poll is the third to show Merkel’s conservatives now lagging the Social Democrats, who may be set for a remarkable comeback after almost ending up as ...

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• 29 August

  Hurricane Ida roars towards Louisiana

  

  Bloomberg Hurricane Ida gained power rapidly on Sunday as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico on its way to smashing into Louisiana, threatening to unleash mass flooding and destruction in New Orleans. The Category 4 hurricane has top winds of 150 miles (241 kilometres) per hour, the National Hurricane Center said at 7 am local time. Only two other storms ...

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• 29 August

  Uber waits annoy passengers in UK after drivers quit in droves

  

  Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc is suffering from an exodus of UK drivers to other ride-hailing and delivery apps, leading to longer waiting times and frustrated customers. The App Drivers and Couriers Union found that 49% of drivers in a survey of 1,212 members switched to other sources of income in the last 18 months. Drivers who spoke to Bloomberg News ...

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• 29 August

  European SMEs hit by soaring shipping costs

  

  Bloomberg Watch out for the fate of Europe’s small import-export exposed businesses, as chaos in global supply chains continues to hurt that corner of the continent’s economy. The cost of hauling 40-foot boxloads of goods to Rotterdam from Shanghai surged to $13,787 per unit, according to Drewry Shipping. The average at this time of year over the prior five years ...

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• 29 August

  US jobs recovery cools in shadow of Delta variant

  Bloomberg A likely moderation in US hiring in the monthly employment report will give policy makers a measure of the health of the labour market and the threat posed by the delta variant of the coronavirus. The US probably added 750,000 jobs in August, a slowdown from June and July but well above the pace seen earlier this year, according ...

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• 29 August

  German import prices rise most in four decades on supply woes

  

  Bloomberg Germany is seeing its biggest surge in imported inflation since the early 1980s, putting a price tag on the difficulties businesses are facing to secure inputs amid a worsening supply squeeze. In July, goods arriving in the country from abroad were 15% more expensive than a year ago, data show. The cost of basic goods increased about 19% and ...

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• 29 August

  UK suburban home prices outpace cities

  Bloomberg House prices in the UK suburbs outpaced those in city centers during the pandemic as people traded shorter commutes for gardens and indoor space to work from home, figures show. In the areas surrounding major cities, property values grew an average 10.8% between March 2020 and June this year, according to mortgage lender Halifax, whose figures exclude London. For ...

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• 29 August

  Audi CEO sees better odds of building in US as VW electrifies

  

  Bloomberg The odds Audi decides to start building vehicles in the US are rising as parent Volkswagen AG electrifies its lineup, the luxury-car maker’s chief executive officer said. The VW group’s strategy to bring down the cost of electric vehicles involves developing common platforms to underpin models across its many brands to conserve costs. The first, dubbed MEB, is the ...

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• 29 August

  Stock market risks pile up after record-setting earnings season

  

  Bloomberg Delta cases. Inflation. Fed tapering. China’s crackdown. These are among the reasons why investors could soon get more nervous about this stock market. The S&P 500 hit another record after Jerome Powell’s dovish taper speech reassured investors. However, the mood seems more cautious compared with a few weeks ago, when companies were in the middle of a record-setting earnings ...

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