All three major averages posted weekly losses as fears of higher interest rates and inflation deepened. The S&P 500 slid 2.5% this week for its second negative week in a row. The 30-stock Dow fell 1.8%, and the Nasdaq was the relative underperformer this week, losing 4.9%.
Ether, the world’s second-largest digital currency, hit a record high on Thursday.
The price of ether hit $1,918.52 during morning trade in Asia but has since pared some gains, according to CoinDesk data.
The rally in bitcoin, which surpassed $52,000 for the first time on Wednesday, is helping to push up ether as well.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken condemned Russia’s use of “harsh tactics” against peaceful protesters who urge for the release of Putin opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
More than 4,500 people were detained by Russian authorities for participating in the protests, according to a monitoring group.
“It remains striking to me, how concerned, and maybe even scared, the Russian government seems to be of one man, Mr. Navalny,” Blinken said last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 620.74 points, or 2%, to 29,982.62, the first time the 30-stock gauge has closed below the 30,000 mark since Dec. 14. The S&P 500 fell 1.9% to 3,714.24 as 10 sectors registered losses. The Nasdaq Composite slid 2% to 13,070.69 as Apple dropped 3.7% and other major tech names slipped.
Moderna is planning to test the safety and immune response from giving a booster shot of its Covid-19 vaccine one year after initial vaccination.
The duration of protection from Covid-19 vaccines isn’t yet known.
Its clinical trial sites have already begun outreach to volunteers from earlier trials.
Grayscale kicked off last year with $2 billion in assets under management and ended with more than $20.2 billion, driven by demand from institutional investors such as hedge funds, endowments and pension funds.
Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust became a popular, publicly traded way for investors to get exposure to cryptocurrency without owning the coins themselves.
“There’s no longer professional risk of investing in the digital currency asset class — there’s probably more career risk in not paying attention to it,” said CEO Michael Sonnenshein.
American is the first airline to return the jets to commercial service in the U.S. since they were grounded in March 2019 after two crashes.
United and Southwest plan to fly the planes again in the first half of 2021.
The jets are returning to a travel market devastated by the coronavirus.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper than others and does not need to be kept at the ultra-low temperatures required by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
The shot is expected to be rolled out next week.
A vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech has been given to 600,000 people in the U.K., according to government statistics.
London is about to move to the highest level of coronavirus restrictions as cases surge in the capital.
Tier 3 restrictions kick in on Wednesday morning.
CNBC answers a range of questions on the latest restrictions.
One of the potential changes is putting an end to self-preferencing.
Companies like Apple and Google will also have to allow users to uninstall apps that have originally come with their devices.
Failure to comply could result in fines as high as 10% of the companies’ annual turnover worldwide.
The remedies could ultimately include forcing companies to disinvest if they breach the rules systematically.
