Category: World News

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Antitrust regulator orders Tencent Music to surrender music label rights

Antitrust regulator orders Tencent Music to give up music label rights

Photo illustration of the logo of Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), a Chinese company that develops music streaming services.

Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA pictures | LightRocket via Getty Images

The Chinese antitrust authorities have ordered Tencent to give up its exclusive music licensing rights with international record labels and fined the company as Beijing continues to crack down on its internet giants at home.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on Saturday fined the company 500,000 yuan ($ 77,141) for violating the regulations when it acquired China Music in 2016.

In response, Tencent said it would abide by the regulator’s decision and “meet all regulatory requirements, meet our social responsibilities and contribute to healthy competition in the market.”

It comes as Beijing continues to crack down on its domestic tech companies that have grown into some of the most valuable companies in the world. The crackdown in recent months has ranged from the Ant Group’s $ 34.5 billion initial public offering suspension last year to Alibaba’s $ 2.8 billion antitrust fine.

In April, the SAMR called 34 companies, including Tencent and ByteDance, and ordered them to conduct self-inspections to comply with antimonopoly rules.

This is the latest news. Please check again for updates.

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U.S. Airstrikes Attempt to Gradual Taliban Advance in Afghanistan

U.S. Airstrikes Try to Slow Taliban Advance in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. military aircraft struck a number of Taliban positions this week in support of faltering Afghan government forces, in one of the first significant American reactions to the insurgents’ blistering advance across Afghanistan as U.S. troops withdraw.

At least one of the strikes was against Taliban positions in the key southern city of Kandahar, slowing an advance that threatened to take over the city. Others were in the neighboring province of Helmand, according to a strongly worded Taliban statement.

The Taliban’s harsh language — it called the strikes “disobedience” to last year’s withdrawal agreement with the Americans, and it warned of unspecified “consequences” — was an indication that the airstrikes had an impact on the insurgent group.

The scale and pace of the Taliban advance has provoked alarm among top U.S. military and civilian officials in recent days. The Taliban now threaten most of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals and even Kabul, the national capital. The group has overrun more than half of the country’s 400-odd districts, in many cases seizing them without a fight, since it began its offensive in earnest in May.

This week’s airstrikes, which took place Wednesday and Thursday, appear to be an indication of that U.S. concern and of lingering American involvement in the country despite a nearly completed pullout of U.S. forces after almost 20 years of war. The United States and other major powers are pushing for a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government, but the Taliban believe they are winning the war, leaving little incentive to negotiate.

“We do have deep concerns about the actions the Taliban is taking, indicating that it may be trying to take the country by force,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Friday on MSNBC. “But were that to happen, Afghanistan would be a pariah state.”

On Wednesday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, warned of the possibility of a “complete Taliban takeover,” saying the insurgents now had the “strategic momentum” in the fight against Afghan government forces.

Pentagon officials confirmed the recent American strikes but were tight-lipped about specifics. They have been similarly ambiguous for weeks about the scale and scope of continued American military involvement in Afghanistan’s war, though they indicated earlier this month that it could continue at least until the withdrawal was completed at the end of August.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said this week that American forces had equipped a base in Qatar “to be able to conduct over-the-horizon strikes” in Afghanistan.

As the U.S. pullout accelerated and Bagram Air Base was handed over to the Afghans, American officials suggested that U.S. air power would be employed against the Taliban in limited circumstances, at least through Aug. 31.

But they did not specify what those circumstances would be. This week’s strikes are a sign that the near-collapse of Afghan forces in the last month has caught the attention of official Washington.

The United States no longer has aircraft stationed in Afghanistan. The planes deployed this week would have been based in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East.

“In the last several days, we have acted through airstrikes to support the ANDSF but, I won’t get into tactical details of those strikes,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing Thursday, referring to the Afghan forces by their acronym.

He noted Mr. Austin’s statement about the ability to conduct such strikes, adding, “General McKenzie has those authorities,” referring to the head of the Pentagon’s Central Command, Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie.

A senior Afghan official in Kandahar, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the American strikes had “boosted the morale of our security forces.” He added that “we are hoping these airstrikes will help to push the Taliban away from the city of Kandahar.”

A B-52 long-range bomber was spotted over Kabul in recent days, for the first time in some years. The plane’s massive size and distinctive silhouette were likely intended as a show of force. The bombers have been moved to Qatar to cover the withdrawal of U.S. and international forces.

Several Pentagon officials confirmed that additional bombing raids around Kandahar are likely in coming days. “We’ve been doing it where and when feasible, and we’ll keep doing it where and when feasible,” one official said, speaking anonymously to describe operational planning.

Even as their military advance continues almost unchecked — though government forces claim to have taken back a handful of districts — the Taliban have become increasingly emboldened. They left top Afghan government officials empty-handed after a peace meeting in Doha, Qatar, last weekend, not even agreeing to the traditional cease-fire over the Eid holiday.

On Tuesday rockets were fired at the presidential palace in Kabul as officials were gathered for Eid prayers, though the attack was later claimed by a branch of Islamic State.

Adam Nossiter reported from Kabul, and Eric Schmitt from Washington, D.C. Taimoor Shah and Thomas Gibbons-Neff contributed reporting.

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Dow rises greater than 100 factors as shares head for a profitable week

Dow rises more than 100 points as stocks head for a winning week

Traders and finance professionals work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Drew Angerer | Getty Images

US stocks rose on Friday as major averages tried to post their fourth straight day of earnings and ease worries about economic growth earlier in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 145 points, or 0.4%, for a fourth straight day. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4%. The S&P 500 was on course for a record close above the July 12th closing high.

The 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.285% on Friday, easing economic concerns raised by the bond market on Monday. The 10-year yield fell to a 5-month low of 1.13% earlier this week.

“We expect the markets to remain choppy, but there is no basic justification for more aggressive sales,” wrote the Barclays strategists in a customer announcement. “In fact, the strong recovery since Tuesday shows that the animal spirits are intact.”

Strong gains from technology stocks kept investors optimistic amid reports from the biggest names in the industry over the next week. Twitter and Snap both rose Thursday after better-than-expected earnings reports for the second quarter. Twitter traded more than 1% higher while Snap shot up 22%.

Facebook gained about 3% over the results of its social media competitors. Alphabet added about 1.5%. Both will report next week together with Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.

All three US stock averages are on track to close the week in the green after recovering from last week’s losses and sharp sell-off on Monday. The Dow lost more than 700 points at the start of the week as yields fell, unsettling equity investors about the economy.

The S&P 500 is up more than 1% this week and the Nasdaq Composite is up about 2%. Both are also within 1% of their intraday records. The Dow is up 0.8% for the week.

The strength of tech stocks also comes along with the continued proliferation of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid.

“We saw in the depths of the pandemic that tech stocks and their earnings did best at BMO Wealth Management,” said. “Long-term interest rates, which are falling as much as they did, also make these stocks more attractive.”

The equity market as a whole was supported by a strong reporting season. With a quarter of the S&P 500 reporting, Refinitiv expects earnings growth of 76% for the second quarter, the best growth since 2009. And profit margins are holding up amid rising inflation. For the second quarter, the companies have so far reported average profit margins of 12.8%, according to S&P Global, which is above the historical range.

American Express reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Friday morning, giving its stocks a 3.5% gain.

Honeywell also reported strong gains, even though the stock was down 1.5%. Kimberly-Clark shares fell 3% after earnings were reported in line with Wall Street forecasts. The annual forecast was also lowered, citing higher costs and lower volumes.

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As Haitian Chief’s Funeral Nears, Anger Burns within the Streets

As Haitian Leader’s Funeral Nears, Anger Burns in the Streets

CAP-HAÏTIEN, Haiti – Hours before mourners were due to pay tribute to assassinated President Jovenel Moïse at a state funeral on Friday – a moment many hoped would help heal a broken nation – the northern city of Cap-Haïtien burned with anger and frustration exposing the deep divisions in Haiti.

Black smoke from burning tires billowed across the streets on Thursday, a common form of protest in a country divided on geography, wealth and power. Large crowds of demonstrators ran through the narrow colonial streets and shouted: “You killed Jovenel and the police were there.”

Mistrustful of the elite who had come out of the capital, angry men tried to prevent the arrival of mourners from outside the city by throwing a cinder block at the leading car of a motorcade that had navigated through the fire and later over a concrete telephone pole A street.

“We sent someone alive, they sent him back a body,” shouted Frantz Atole, a 42-year-old mechanic, promising violence. “This country will not be silent.”

The state funeral planned for the Moïse family homestead, less than half an hour from downtown Cap-Haïtien, was to attract diplomats from around the world and officials from across the country. But the uproar before the ceremony raised questions about safety and whether everyone who wanted to pay tribute to Mr. Moïse would actually come to the funeral.

Two weeks after Mr Moïse was riddled with bullets in his own bedroom in the capital, Port-au-Prince – killed by a group of Colombian mercenaries, authorities say – the country is still circling the country with unanswered questions and seething with rage. Several members of Mr Moïse’s own security department were also questioned and taken into custody.

A new government was installed in the capital this week, with leaders vowing to get to the bottom of the horrific murders and to reach consensus between the country’s warring political factions and its angry civil society groups. But the unrest Thursday threatened to turn hopes for consensus into a naive, unrealized dream.

“The Port-au-Prince bourgeoisie is responsible. You are the reason for all of this, ”said Emmanuella Joseph, a 20-year-old high school student who cried into a washcloth by the roadside at the end of an ongoing protest. “All I ask is to close all roads so they don’t come.”

She added lamentably that the president’s killers were outsiders who had long interfered in the fate of the country. “What kind of nation comes and kills a president?”

Others shouted that the police and the Presidential Guard, whose members were not injured in the attack on the President’s home, were involved in the murder.

Cap-Haïtien was dressed in mourning on Thursday. It was once the capital of the French colony of St. Domingue, which claimed one of the world’s most brutal slave plantation economies and was later overwhelmed by the world’s most successful slave rebellion. Banners hung over the streets reading “Justice for President Jovenel” and “Thank you, President Jovenel. You gave your life for the struggle of the people and it will go on. “

In the immediate vicinity of the city’s main stone square, where rebel leaders were executed more than two centuries ago, mourners queued to sign books of condolence and light candles before a large photo of the president was taken in a government building.

“We live in such a fragile time,” said Maxil Mompremier in front of the Notre Dame de L’Assomption cathedral from colonial times, where Moïse’s supporters had previously gathered for a service. “Nobody understands what happened. Lots of people are scared. “

The assassination of the President of Haiti

Mr Moïse comes from the north of the country and was not known in the country’s center of power, Port-au-Prince, when he was elected as a candidate for the 2015 elections by the ruling party. Born in the nearby town of Trou-du-Nord, he later began his entrepreneurial career in Port-de-Paix, where he became President of the Chamber of Commerce.

The fact that he was killed far away in Port-au-Prince sparked old divisions between the less developed north and the capital and economic center of the country and deepened the rifts between the country’s small elite and its destitute majority.

“It occurs incessantly in the entire history of Haiti,” said Emile Eyma Jr., a historian from Cap-Haïtien, speaking of the resentments of the northerners. “It is dangerous that both the question of color and the question of regionalism are used as weapons for purely political reasons.”

The president’s wife, Martine Moïse, who was injured in the attack, has announced that her family will pay for the funeral. Planes arrived at the usually sleepy airport all day, with more to arrive on Friday.

But anger burned in the streets of this city.

“We’ll protest all night,” Mr. Atole vowed as the tires burned on a bridge behind him. “We’ll make it difficult for them in town.”

Harold Isaac contributed to the coverage.

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Asia-Pacific shares dip as buyers watch China tech shares in Hong Kong

Asia-Pacific stocks dip as investors watch China tech shares in Hong Kong

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were lower in Friday morning trade as investors monitor Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong after regulatory concerns resurfaced.

South Korea’s Kospi sat below the flatline in early trade. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.18%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.07% lower.

Markets in Japan are closed on Friday for a holiday.

China tech stock watch

Investors will watch Chinese tech shares in Hong Kong after Bloomberg News reported that Beijing is considering harsh penalties on ride-hailing giant Didi. The penalties being planned range from a fine likely bigger than the record $2.8 billion Alibaba paid earlier this year to even a forced delisting after Didi’s IPO last month.

Shares of Didi stateside plunged more than 11% on Thursday. Earlier in July, the firm was forced to stop signing up new users and also had its app removed from Chinese app stores due to alleged collection and use of personal data.

That development came as Beijing continues its months-long crackdown on China’s tech behemoths, targeting issues from anti-trust to data regulation.

Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 25.35 points higher to 34,823.35 while the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to 4,367.48. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.36% to 14,684.60.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.805 — off levels above 93 seen earlier in the week.

The Japanese yen traded at 110.12 per dollar, weaker than levels below 109.6 seen against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.738, above levels below $0.732 seen earlier in the trading week.

Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.23% to $73.62 per barrel. U.S. crude futures slipped 0.24% to $71.74 per barrel.

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New Excessive Climate Report? Not So Quick.

New Extreme Weather Record? Not So Fast.

Jeff Masters, a meteorologist and co-founder of Weather Underground, an online news service, says the reason more temperature records are not being kept is because the process is too time-consuming. A typical example of this is that efforts to reanalyze every named Atlantic storm since 1851, which began two decades ago, have so far only reached 1965.

“There are hundreds of temperature records in the US alone that would not survive re-analysis,” said Dr. Masters. “The most famous of these is the hottest world record temperature in history of 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913 in Death Valley.”

Two extreme weather experts, William T. Reid and Christopher C. Burt, have argued on the Weather Underground site that the 1913 reading was “impossible from a meteorological point of view,” in part because it was inconsistent with other observations in that part Death Valley in the same week. They say the man who recorded the temperature at Greenland Ranch, California, seems to have retrospectively “knowingly or accidentally” exaggerated the readings, and that he may not even be there at the time.

But Randall Cerveny, who leads the World Meteorological Organization’s efforts to research and review global weather records, said in an email that the 1913 reading is still considered “the hottest temperature recorded for the United States and the world” was recognized.

Dr. Cerveny, who teaches geographic science at Arizona State University and worked with Mr. Burt to debunk the 1922 Libya data set, described Mr. Burt and Mr. Reid’s research on the 1913 Death Valley data set as “presumptive, not new, evidence . He added that the US Climate Extremes Index, a NOAA project, has also chosen not to investigate it.

“We do not reject records without solid evidence that they are inaccurate,” he said.

Referring to more recent Death Valley records, Dr. Cerveny that the WMO is still trying to verify a 129.9 degree value in this range on August 6, 2020.

If confirmed, it would be the third highest temperature ever recorded on Earth and the second highest in the United States. But dr. Cerveny said the investigation will “take a while” because his team tested the temperature sensor that made the measurement.

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Europe’s journey trade determined as Covid surges

Europe's travel industry desperate as Covid surges

In 2020, workers will carry scaffolding on the beach “Paradise” on the Greek Cycladic island of Mykonos. The island has traditionally been overcrowded with wealthy foreigners, but it turned into a ghost island last year.

ARIS MESSINIS | AFP | Getty Images

During the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps no other industry was hit harder than the global travel and tourism sector, as planes grounded, resorts closed, and carefree vacations are a distant memory for most of us.

Some countries in Europe – Greece, Spain, and Portugal, for example – rely on tourism to fuel economic growth, with the prosperity of thousands of businesses, livelihoods, and communities tied to the success or failure of the season.

With Covid vaccinations rolled out across the region since late 2020, there were high hopes that Europe could look forward to a recovery in summer tourism this year.

Instead, the season looks very uncertain, as the delta variant is increasing in Europe and stipulating a multitude of different rules and restrictions, traffic light systems, country risk profiles as well as possible quarantines and entry requirements for vaccines.

Fourth wave?

Traveling within Europe these days is in many ways not for the faint of heart. The Covid infection rate has increased across the region as the highly contagious Delta variant has conquered the globe.

As with the previous Alpha variant (which Delta has now usurped), the UK was something of a harbinger of doom when it came to what the rest of Europe could expect. The UK saw another wave of Covid caused by the alpha variant earlier this year and is now seeing another wave with Delta.

Despite efforts on the continent to contain the variant, the inevitable spread has occurred, with the strain now accounting for the majority of new infections from country to country.

The Netherlands and Spain have seen large spikes in cases, largely due to the night sector, after both countries reopened their nightclubs in late June, only to reverse course two weeks later. Meanwhile, France announced earlier this week that it was entering a fourth wave of the pandemic, with government spokesman Gabriel Attal sounding the alarm:

“We have entered a fourth wave. The epidemic dynamics are extremely strong. We are seeing a faster wave and a bigger surge than any previous … the incidence rate continues to explode … So big, so sudden, we have that not seen since the beginning of the pandemic, “said Attal on Monday.

Tourism and airline stocks took a hit earlier this week as global markets slumped on renewed fears about the global recovery. EasyJet and Ryanair, well-known low-cost airlines in Europe, were among the stocks that posted significant price losses. EasyJet’s shares, for example, traded at 842.20 pence on Friday but fell to 758.20 pence early Monday afternoon.

Easyjet CEO Johan Lundgren told CNBC on Tuesday that the travel sector was facing an “extremely challenging” situation, but that vaccination programs in Europe were key to reopening. The data shows that two doses from Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca-Oxford University are effective against the Delta variant, reducing the risk of hospitalization and death.

“We always knew that [the recovery] shouldn’t be a straight line … But we see the restrictions lifted. But it is absolutely right that when you open up societies and communities, infections also increase. The question is whether the vaccinations make the link between [infection and] severe hospitalization and death, and luckily it looks like it, “Lundgren told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe.

Complex trips

Anyone planning a last-minute European vacation this year should expect an often confusing, complex, and quite stressful experience – even before you get off the plane.

As a general example of the complexities of vacationing in these troubled times, let’s take traveling from the UK to Greece – a vacation that 3.4 million Britons took in 2019, as official statistics show:

Greece allows UK visitors if they can provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 PCR test performed within 72 hours of arriving in the country or evidence of a negative rapid antigen test performed by an authorized laboratory within the 48 hour before the scheduled flight; or proof of two doses of a Covid vaccine completed at least 14 days prior to travel.

Before entering Greece, however, you must fill out a passenger search form with your vaccination status, your vacation address and the next of kin no later than 11:59 p.m. (local time) the previous day. Then vacationers must take a PCR test and fill out another passenger locator form before returning to the UK, and then have another PCR test or 10 day quarantine within two days of their return to the UK.

All of that, and Greece is actually one of the easier places to vacation this year.

Like its fellow Europeans, Greece has not escaped the somewhat inevitable spike in Covid cases as the economy (especially the island’s night economy) has opened up. Still, the daily number of cases seems small compared to France or the UK. On Wednesday, Greece reported 2,972 new cases, 19 of which were located after controls at the country’s borders.

Busier times in Paliouri Beach, Greece: this picture was taken in 2017 which was considered one of the busiest summers in terms of visitor arrivals.

NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Wolfango Piccoli, co-president of the Teneo Intelligence risk advisory service, stated on Wednesday that the resurgence of Covid-19 in Greece “brings with it new challenges, particularly with regard to another lean tourist season and the following economic consequences”, circumstances that Put pressure on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“Mitsotakis had hoped to leave the pandemic behind this summer when his center-right government reached the middle of its four-year return to growth. However, the Covid-19 numbers have risen significantly in recent weeks and the important tourism sector is already pushing for more government support in the fall, fearing that visitor numbers will be even more disappointing this year, “said Piccoli.

As the Delta variant gradually became more dominant, Piccoli noted that Greece was puzzled as “the number of daily vaccinations has fallen below 100,000 this month, despite the government incentivizing Greeks between the ages of 18 and 25 150 euros (177 US dollars) offers vaccinated. “

So far, only about 120,000 of an estimated 980,000 Greeks in this age group have been vaccinated.

Immunization rates in the general population have reached nearly 52% for at least one dose of the vaccine and nearly 44% for full vaccination, Piccoli noted, adding that “the recent slower uptake has cast doubt on the government’s ability to meet its vaccination goal.” 70-75% of the adult population by the end of summer. “

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U.S. Reaffirms Land Border Restrictions with Canada and Mexico

U.S. Reaffirms Land Border Restrictions with Canada and Mexico

Nonessential travel restrictions from Canada and Mexico do not apply to air, freight rail or sea, and traveling by land is still allowed for many reasons, including business, medical purposes and education. All international air travelers into the United States have to present a negative coronavirus test taken within three days of departure or proof of recovery from the virus within 90 days.

Canada made the decision to reopen its border based on its vaccination progress — more than three quarters of the country has received at least one dose of vaccine, according to governmental data, a far higher percentage than the United States, where a little more than 56 percent of the population has received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Residents within the United States and across its land borders have pressed for reopening, and more than 2,800 people have joined a private Facebook group organized by Let Us Reunite, an advocacy group.

One of the group’s members is Heather Kienle, a U.S. citizen who lives in Montreal. Crossing the border has not been a problem for Ms. Kienle, but her husband, a Canadian, cannot.

So Ms. Kienle, who is six months pregnant, often drives alone or with her 4-year-old daughter more than eight hours to West Babylon, N.Y., to care for her mother, who has endometrial cancer.

“It was just very stressful because I had to travel by myself, without my husband, and I had to take care of my daughter in the back seat,” Ms. Kienle said on Wednesday.

U.S. politicians from both parties have also objected to the restrictions.

Brian Higgins, a congressman who represents a district in Western New York that borders Canada, said in a statement on Wednesday that “today’s decision by the Biden administration harms economic recovery and hurts families all across America’s northern border; this is completely unnecessary.”

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Shares rally for a second day, Dow jumps greater than 200 factors to recoup Monday’s losses

Stocks rally for a second day, Dow jumps more than 200 points to recoup Monday's losses

US stocks rose higher on Wednesday as stocks continued their recovery from a one-day loss earlier in the week.

Better-than-expected earnings reports from Dow members Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson added to the bullish mood.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 286.01 points, or 0.83%, to 34,798 points. It sits less than 1% from a record. The S&P 500 was up 0.82% to 4,358.65. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.92% to 14,631.95.

The 30-share index rose nearly 550 points on Tuesday after falling 725 points on Monday for its worst session in eight months. The successive rallies have now completely wiped out the losses from the beginning of the week for all three indices.

“Tuesday was an oversold course in the textbook after the collapse on Monday,” Thomas Essaye of Sevens Report Research said in a report on Wednesday. “However, aside from short-term swings, we need to see returns hit rock bottom and economic growth beat estimates (two things we think will happen) for value and cyclicals to regain leadership.”

The bond market, particularly the 10-year government bond yield, is driving the equity markets. On Wednesday, the 10-year yield rose 8 basis points to 1.293% (1 basis point equals 0.01%). The yield fell to a new 5-month low on Monday before stabilizing on Tuesday. The collapse in interest rates unsettled equity investors by signaling a possible slowdown in the economy due to the spread of Covid variants or a possible error by the Federal Reserve.

Even if bonds move up, the trend is still down compared to five months ago when the 10-year price was above 1.7.

“The catalyst for why investors have become familiar with risk assets in the past two days is admittedly difficult to pin down,” said Chris Hussey of Goldman Sachs on Wednesday. “Perhaps investors have just embraced the notion that the response function to a new wave of the virus is unlikely to be the same as the response function deployed in spring 2020.”

Stocks, which would benefit most from a sustained rapid economic reopening, rose on Wednesday after recovering from Monday’s sell-off in the previous session. Carnival’s shares rose more than 9%. Las Vegas Sands was up 3%.

Energy stocks led the ongoing rally as oil continued to rebound after falling below $ 70 a barrel on Monday. The Energy Select SPDR is 3.5% higher that day.

Dow member Coca-Cola gave market sentiment an early boost after it reported quarterly sales surpassing pre-pandemic 2019 levels and raised its guidance for the full year. Coca-Cola shares gained more than 1%.

Dow member Johnson & Johnson’s stock traded almost unchanged even after the drug maker reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter and also raised its guidance for 2021.

Moderna has joined the S&P 500, giving the stock a 20% gain from when it was announced a week ago. The shares have gained 4.5%.

Verizon’s stocks rose slightly after reporting better-than-expected revenue and subscriber growth and raising their outlook for the full year.

Chipotle’s shares surged more than 11.5% as the Mexican fast food chain reported quarterly sales ahead of pre-pandemic levels as diners returned to their restaurants for dinner.

Netflix reported disappointing subscriber forecasts for the third quarter after the bell on Tuesday. The streaming giant expects 3.5 million net subscribers in the third quarter, nearly 2 million below analyst estimates. The company also reported results that fell short of expectations.

Netflix shares recently lost 3.2%.

According to FactSet, about 85% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported to date have beat estimates.

On Tuesday, reopening stocks rallied sharply from Monday’s sell-off sparked by a Covid-inspired global growth fear. American Airlines was up 4% and Norwegian Cruise Line was up 10%.

Some strategists see the market heading for a volatile phase in which there could be a deeper pullback. Investors juggle inflation concerns as well as new Covid cases that are recovering in the US when the delta variant spreads.

“I think what we’ve seen here are the early warning shots of a correction that we’re likely to see … in late August, September, October,” said Matt Maley, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.

However, data shows that spikes in the number of Covid cases don’t typically keep the stock market down for long. In the 14 months since the April average daily cases peak last year, case numbers in the US have risen four times while the S&P 500 remained positive.

Goldman’s Hussey said knowing better about Covid and the vaccines available to mitigate its effects could help build market confidence that U.S. economic activity is unlikely to freeze again with another wave of virus cases.

“We should expect the whiplash behavior of investors to continue”,

Rich Steinberg, chief marketing strategist at The Colony Group, told CNBC that he expects “whiplash behavior from investors to continue.”

“We will follow the rally as investors have been conditioned to buy the dip,” he said. “You’ve also been negatively conditioned to worry about the economy and the virus out of last year’s stressful world. I would describe the environment as fearful, but we’re not seeing high levels of short-termism.”

– with reports from CNBC’s Patti Domm and Michael Bloom

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Life Expectancy in U.S. Dropped 1.5 Years in 2020, Largely From the Pandemic

Life Expectancy in U.S. Dropped 1.5 Years in 2020, Largely From the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic was largely responsible for cutting American life expectancy by a year and a half in 2020, the sharpest decline in the United States since World War II, according to federal statistics released Wednesday.

An American child born today, if hypothetically all of their life in 2020 conditions, would live 77.3 years, down from 78.8 years in 2019. This is the lowest life expectancy since 2003. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the agency that released the numbers, and part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The troubled year also exacerbated racial and ethnic differences in life expectancy, with black and Hispanic Americans losing nearly two years more than white Americans. The life expectancy of Hispanic Americans decreased from 81.8 to 78.8, while the number of black Americans decreased from 74.7 to 71.8. The life expectancy of non-Hispanic White Americans decreased from 78.8 to 77.6.

The statistics further quantified the terrifying toll of the pandemic, which killed more than 600,000 Americans as it temporarily pushed the health system to its limits.

Life expectancy measurements are not intended to accurately predict actual life; Rather, it is a measure of the health of a population that shows either societal hardship or progress. The sheer scale of the 2020 decline has shaken researchers as it undermines decades of advances.

For the past few decades, life expectancy in the United States had risen steadily until 2014 when an opioid epidemic broke out and caused a decline rarely seen in developed countries. The decline had flattened out in 2018 and 2019.

The pandemic appears to have impacted the opioid crisis as well. According to the American Medical Association, more than 40 states have seen increases in opioid-related deaths since the pandemic began.

The sharp drop in 2020, mainly caused by Covid-19, is unlikely to be permanent. In 1918, the pandemic flu wiped Americans’ life expectancy by 11.8 years, but the number fully recovered the following year.

But even if deaths from Covid-19 decline, the economic and social effects will persist, especially among the disproportionately affected racial groups, researchers have found.

Although racial and ethnic differences in life expectancy have long existed, the differences have been narrowing for decades. In 1993, white Americans were expected to live 7.1 years longer than black Americans, but the gap was reduced to 4.1 years in 2019.

Covid-19 has undone much of that advancement: White Americans are now projected to live 5.8 years longer.

The gender gap remains: women in the United States lived to be 80.2 years old, according to the new numbers, up from 81.4 years in 2019, while men were counted at 74.5 years (after 76.3 years).

While the 1.5-year decline was mainly caused by Covid-19 and accounted for 74 percent of the negative contribution, there was also a smaller increase in accidental injuries, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, homicides and diabetes.

As a slight silver lining, mortality rates fell from cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, heart disease, suicide, and certain diseases that date back to the perinatal period.