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Asian Shares Retreat as Virus Vaccine Rally Fades
The focus for now was on news that scientists soon will begin a study to see if the experimental vaccine developed by Moderna and the NIH is strong enough to protect against the coronavirus
By Elaine Kurtenbach	• Published July 15, 2020 • Updated on July 15, 2020 at 11:35 pm
AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko
Shares fell back in Asia on Thursday after markets worldwide rallied on rising hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Benchmarks fell in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai early Thursday. Investors see a vaccine as the best way for the economy and human life to get back to normal.
Researchers announced on Tuesday that one developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna had revved up people's immune systems in early testing, as hoped. But that news, plus a report that China's economy grew 3.2% in annual terms in April-June failed to sustain the rally, as rising numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases clouded the outlook.
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Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.5% to 22,825.55, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1.1% to 25,207.82. In South Korea, the Kospi shed 0.6% to 2,190.66. The Shanghai Composite index skidded 1.4% to 3,315.11.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged less than 0.1% lower, to 6,051.90, as authorities reported that Victoria state had confirmed a record 317 new coronavirus cases in a day.
The Victoria government responded be reducing numbers of non-urgent surgeries allowed in hospitals to increase beds available for COVID-19 patients, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said.
China reported, meanwhile, that its economy grew at a 3.2% pace in April-June from a year earlier, rebounding from a painful 6.8% contraction in the previous quarter that was its worst performance since at least the mid-1960s.
The expansion came as anti-virus lockdowns were lifted and factories and stores reopened. But it still was the weakest positive figure since China started reporting quarterly growth in the early 1990s.
Boosting factory output is the easy part, said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp.
"No matter how much stimulus and fiscal sugar you try to entice consumers with, they will not leave their apartment and go on a spending spree until they feel confident the landscape is virus-free," he said in a report.
Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 3,226.56, pulling to within 4.7% of its all-time high set in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also climbed 0.9%, to 26,870.10, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%, to 10,550.49.
Several things helped lift the market, including stronger-than-expected reports on the economy and on corporate profits from Goldman Sachs and others. But the vaccine hopes were at the center of the rise, which meant the market's leaderboard was dominated by companies that would benefit most from a return to normal life. They included cruise-ship operators, airlines, retailers and hotel chains.
Stocks of smaller companies also leaped much more than the rest of the market, an indication of rising expectations for the economy. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks jumped 3.5%, a turnaround from earlier months when big, tech-oriented companies were carrying the market.
Winners of the stay-at-home economy created by quarantines and lockdowns, meanwhile, lagged behind. Clorox, Netflix and Amazon all fell.
Rising numbers of infections and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic remain a constant source of uncertainty.
Worries also remain high that the stock market has gone overboard in its rally: It has taken less than four months for the S&P 500 to almost return to its record after being down nearly 34%. But it could take years for the economy and corporate profits to get back to where they were before the pandemic struck.
A raft of troubling news, from the more than 13.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 to escalating friction between Washington and Beijing, hangs over the markets but has been countered by the massive amounts of stimulus poured into financial systems by central banks to counter the pandemic downturn.
"In most other realities, this would be ironic or absurd. But in the liquidity inundated post-COVID world/markets, this is Thursday," Mizuho Bank's Riki Ogawa said in a commentary.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 0.62% from 0.63% late Wednesday. It tends to move with investors' expectations for the economy and inflation.
In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil shed 13 cents to $41.07 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 91 cents to settle at $41.20 per barrel on Wednesday.
Brent oil, the international standard, gave up 8 cents to $43.71 per barrel. It picked up 89 cents to settle at $43.79 per barrel overnight.
The dollar bought 106.94 Japanese yen, down from 106.96 yen late Wednesday. The euro was trading at $1.1408, weakening from $1.1411.
AP Business Writers Stan Choe, Damian Troise and Alex Veiga contributed.
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What's the hidden culprit behind all of these symptoms? Not enough shut-eye. Lack of sleep is quickly rising as one of the costliest health conditions an employer faces – not only through healthcare costs, but through productivity and absenteeism. It's reported that businesses lose close to $63 billion in productivity each year due to sleepy workers. Not a huge surprise given that an estimated 60 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders.
Employers are starting to notice this epidemic and take action. Educating employees on appropriate sleep requirements and proper sleep hygiene play an important role in an employer-sponsored wellness program. Some have even gone so far as building out nap rooms that their sleepy employees can take advantage of throughout the day.
Bring in sleep professionals to educate on sleep hygiene and help diagnose sleep conditions such as insomnia and other disorders.
Implement flexible work schedules and/or telecommuting options.
Roll out a sleep "challenge" to raise awareness on the number of hours of sleep employees are getting vs. needing.
Encourage employees to take breaks throughout the workday.
Provide proper nutrition education that aides in getting a better night's sleep.
Know where to direct at-risk employees should they need 1:1 guidance and support. The National Sleep Foundation's directory of sleep professionals is a great resource.
And for yourself, check out www.sleep.org, powered by the National Sleep Foundation, for tips and resources on how you can feel better and start improving your sleep today.


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What the Federal Reserve has done in the coronavirus crisis
By Jonnelle Marte (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve has moved into overdrive to try to keep the U.S. economy from suffering lasting damage from the coronavirus pandemic, announcing an emergency interest rate cut on March 3 and rolling out new efforts almost weekly since, including slashing rates to zero and relaunching large-scale asset purchases. The U.S.
Reuters April 10, 2020 00:10:40 IST
By Jonnelle Marte
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve has moved into overdrive to try to keep the U.S. economy from suffering lasting damage from the coronavirus pandemic, announcing an emergency interest rate cut on March 3 and rolling out new efforts almost weekly since, including slashing rates to zero and relaunching large-scale asset purchases.
The U.S. central bank, arguably the most powerful financial institution on Earth, has more than $5.9 trillion of assets on its books - the equivalent of more than a quarter of annual U.S. economic output before the crisis. Its stockpile of assets will grow much larger under the litany of programs it has launched, although some will be held in what are known as special-purpose vehicles, or SPVs, rather than directly by the central bank.
Here's a look at some of the steps taken by the Fed so far:
** RATE CUTS
The Fed cut rates twice on an emergency basis last month, the first time it has done that since the financial crisis in 2008. The first cut of a half percentage point was on March 3 and the second of a full point was on March 15, which brought the Fed's overnight borrowing rate for banks back to near zero. The reduction is meant to keep down the cost of loans for banks - and by extension their customers - to ensure borrowers have ample access to credit during the crisis.
** REPO MARKET
The Fed has been intervening in money markets since last fall, when a cash shortage led to a jump in short-term borrowing rates. Policymakers had planned this year to scale back operations in the market for repurchase agreements, or repo, through which dealers can borrow cash. But as the economic threat posed by the coronavirus increased, the central bank pivoted to offering almost unlimited support in the overnight lending markets for cash. On March 31, the Fed also broadened its repo agreements with foreign central banks, allowing them to exchange their holdings of U.S. Treasury securities for overnight dollar loans.
** QUANTITATIVE EASING (QE)
The Fed first employed QE in the financial crisis, starting in 2008. The idea is that through large-scale purchases of various types of bonds - mostly Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities - it helps ensure that longer-term interest rates like those for mortgages and car loans remain low and helps keep major purchases affordable for consumers and businesses. When it cut rates back to near zero on March 15, the Fed restarted these large-scale purchases and is now doing so with an open-ended commitment. The Fed is now gradually reducing the scale of Treasury purchases, going down to $50 billion per day from $75 billion per day at the end of March.
** DISCOUNT WINDOW
Banks in recent weeks have borrowed the most since 2009 from the Fed's lending tool of last resort at the urging of the central bank. The so-called "discount window" is rarely used because banks are worried that using it could make them appear weak. But policymakers have lowered the rate charged on the funding to 0.25% and extended the length of the loans offered from one day to 90 days. As of April 1, banks had borrowed about $44 billion.
** CENTRAL BANK FOREIGN CURRENCY SWAP LINES
The Fed has standing agreements with five other major foreign central banks - the Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Japan and Swiss National Bank - that allows them to provide U.S. dollars to their financial institutions during times of stress. The Fed has increased the frequency of the operations to daily from weekly. It also offered temporary swap lines to nine additional countries to ease access to dollars, which are in high demand because the liabilities of many foreign governments and companies are denominated in the U.S. currency. Use of the swap lines rose to $348.5 billion in the week ended April 1 from $206.1 billion the week before.
** TERM ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES LOAN FACILITY (TALF https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/talf.htm)
Through an SPV, the TALF program will buy bundles of assets secured by auto loans, credit cards, student loans, loans backed by the Small Business Administration and other types of credit. On April 9 the Fed expanded the collateral accepted by the TALF to include leveraged loans and commercial mortgages. Its aim is to make sure banks and other lenders such as auto finance companies have ample cash to keep making loans to consumers and businesses during the crisis.
** COMMERCIAL PAPER FUNDING FACILITY (CPFF https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/commercial-paper-funding-facility)
The Fed reintroduced the CPFF, a tool it used during the last financial crisis, to get money directly into the hands of large businesses, which are major employers. Like the TALF, it will use an SPV to make purchases of commercial paper, an essential source of short-term funding for many companies. The market had come under strain amid worries that companies hit by efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus would not be able to repay their IOUs. Registration for the facility opened on April 6 and the CPFF will begin funding purchases on April 14.
** PRIMARY DEALER CREDIT FACILITY (PDCF https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/primary-dealer-credit-facility)
Through this facility, the Fed offers short-term loans to the two dozen Wall Street firms authorized to transact directly with the central bank. The program offers funding of up to 90 days to primary dealers. A similar program run from 2008 to 2010 only offered overnight loans.
** PRIMARY MARKET CORPORATE CREDIT FACILITY (PMCCF https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/primary-Market-corporate-credit-facility)
With this program, the Fed will act as a backstop for corporate debt. Through an SPV, the PMCCF will buy bonds and issue loans to companies that can help them cover business expenses and stay in operation. The debt must be repaid to the PMCCF within four years. The Fed on April 9 expanded the program to include corporate bonds that were rated as investment grade as of March 22 but have since been downgraded.
** SECONDARY MARKET CORPORATE CREDIT FACILITY (SMCCF https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/secondary-market-corporate-credit-facility)
Closely related to the PMCCF, under this program an SPV will purchase corporate bonds and exchange-traded funds in the secondary market, or the public market where these securities are traded after they are first issued. The market liquidity added by the Fed is meant to stabilize conditions in the corporate bond market and make it easier for companies to raise funds there. This program was also expanded to include corporate debt that was rated investment grade as of March 22 but was recently downgraded.
** MONEY MARKET MUTUAL FUND LIQUIDITY FACILITY (MMFLF https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/opolicy/operating_policy_200326)
This new facility is meant to keep the $3.8 trillion money market mutual fund industry functioning even when investors are withdrawing money at a fast clip. The tool offers loans of up to one year to financial institutions that pledge as collateral high-quality assets like U.S. Treasury bonds that they have purchased from money market mutual funds. The Fed indirectly encourages banks to buy assets from money market funds, reducing the odds that the funds will need to sell those assets at a loss to meet redemptions.
** MAIN STREET LENDING FACILITY
The new "Main Street" facility will use banks to funnel up to $600 billion in loans of at least $1 million to firms that have up to 10,000 employees or less than $2.5 billion in revenue, an effort to expand the safety net for businesses begun under the CARES act recently passed by Congress.
** SUPPORT FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (Facility https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/monetary20200409a3.pdf)
The Municipal Liquidity Facility will pump up to $500 billion into local governments, which are seeing lower tax revenues as businesses shut down and unemployment rises. The facility will use an SPV to buy municipal bonds of up to two year's duration. The Fed's assistance will be available to the states, the District of Columbia, counties with more than 2 million residents, and cities of more than 1 million.
(Reporting by Jonnelle Marte. Additional reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Dan Burns and Andrea Ricci)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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KGH is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy work environment for everyone who works, learns or volunteers here. By integrating health and safety into our daily work, applying a continuous improvement philosophy, and embedding the prevention mindset into everything we do, our aim is to build a strong safety culture and eliminate all preventable harm to staff.
But it's not just about physical safety. We know that psychological health and safety at work plays an important role in enabling our staff to deliver the best care possible to our patients and their families. For this reason, KGH has embraced the Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace CSA Standard and is working hard to apply the framework to create a work environment that is supportive of mental well-being at work.


Hello lovelies, I hope you're all enjoying the bank holiday. I certainly am, I love a day off Uni and a cheeky lie in!
After trying the L'Oreal Micellar water and not completely loving it, (you can read my review here) I decided to try the Garnier offering as I loved the idea of a micellar water and I didn't want to give up after trying just one. L'Oreal's Micellar water did do a good job of taking my make-up off it just stung my eyes too much. My eyes are so sensitive and I needed something that would effectively remove my eye make-up without burning the hell out of my eyes. Unfortunately the L'Oreal offering wasn't for me.
Garnier's Micellar Cleansing water is so so much better than the L'Oreal one. For one, it's bigger and the cap isn't a stupid design like the other. Secondly, you can find this in Savers for the bargain price of £2.99 and last and most importantly it didn't sting my eyes, hoorah!
I'm completely impressed with Garnier's offering, I've had it for months and it's only half way through. It takes all of my make-up off with ease, including waterproof products and it doens't sting my eyes. It doesn't have an unpleasant smell and it doesn't leave any residue on the skin. I'll definitely be purchasing another bottle as I'm still hesitant as to buy Bioderma.
What micellar cleansing water is your favourite?
This one is coming out on top for me. So far I've tried the ones from B. at Superdrug and L'Oreal and found faults with both the other two. Great post.
This is a great post and by far my favourite micellar water. I've just posted my top ten beauty steals under £5 and would love it if you could take a look.
I keep meaning to pick this up. Glad to see it removed waterproof mascara. If you haven't tried a cleansing oil there also pretty good for removing eye makeup and don't sting. My eyes are pretty sensitive too.