Скачать или смотреть LBLV AstraZeneca buys pharma Alexion for $39 billion 2020/14/12

LBLV provides an overview of economic news.

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The main economic news for Friday, December 14:

0:00 AstraZeneca buys pharma Alexion for $39 billion
0:55 Brexit talks continue, pound rises against dollar
1:28 Stocks keep rebound hopes on vaccines, US stimulus
2:25 Japan overcomes pandemic decline, but capex falls

1. AstraZeneca buys pharma Alexion for $39 billion
AstraZeneca Plc is buying US-based Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., which specializes in the development of drugs to treat rare diseases, for $39 billion. The deal will give AstraZeneca a strong position in the market for high-cost drugs, as well as boost the company's revenue and cash flow in the coming years, allowing it to rapidly reduce its debt. According to an AstraZeneca press release, Alexion is valued at $175 per share as part of the deal, a 40% increase over the average price of the securities over the past month. Alexion shareholders will receive $60 for each of the company's securities and 2.1243 ADRs of AstraZeneca.

2. Brexit talks continue, pound rises against dollar
London and Brussels agreed on Sunday to go the even further in the coming days to try to reach an elusive trade deal, even though they missed their final deadline at the end of the month. Thus, raising the British pound against the dollar and the euro on hopes of a successful deal. The British pound jumped 0.72% to $1.3311, the biggest one-day gain since Dec. 1. Against the euro, the pound rose 0.53% to 91.10 pence. The dollar traded near 2 1/2-year lows against major peers ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting ending Wednesday in which policymakers are expected to increase purchases of longer-term Treasuries to curb rising yields.

3. Stocks keep rebound hopes on vaccines, US stimulus
Global stocks started the busy week with cautious gains as investors assessed the chance of additional fiscal and monetary stimulus in the US. In addition, progress on coronavirus vaccines buoyed risk-off sentiment as the first U.S. deliveries accelerated as part of a historic mission to vaccinate more than 100 million people by the end of March. The first doses of the vaccine, developed by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, will be delivered Monday to 145 locations in the United States. E-Mini futures on the S&P 500 responded with a 0.5% gain and EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 0.5%. MSCI Asia-Pacific's broadest index of stocks outside Japan rose 0.1%, hitting a series of record highs last week. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5% as a survey showed sentiment among Japanese companies, hit hard in December, had improved.

4. Japan overcomes pandemic decline, but capex falls
Japanese business sentiment improved at the fastest pace in nearly two decades in the October-December quarter, an encouraging sign for the economy as it emerges from the initial blow of the coronavirus pandemic. The headline sentiment index of large manufacturers improved to -10 in December from -27 in September, the Bank of Japan's Tankan survey showed Monday. However, companies have cut their capital spending plans for the year ending March 2021, and short-term sentiment has worsened as renewed infections reinforce expectations that any recovery in the world's third-largest economy will be fragile. The number of infections increased with the onset of winter, reaching a daily record on Saturday.