Fidelity Top Stories
US Senate approves $1.9trn Covid-19 aid bill after 50-50 vote
America's Senate narrowly approved the Biden administration's $1. 9trn coronavirus aid package.
UK watchdog confirms continued 'high' safety of Covid-19 vaccines
Ongoing safety checks by the UK regulator confirmed the safety of Covid-19 vaccines.
Retailers demand legislation to protect shopworkers from abuse - BRC
Chief executive officers from over 65 companies wrote to the Prime Minister calling for greater legal protection for shopworkers in England and Wales after an increase of verbal abuse and violence due to Covid safety measures.
GIP teams up with Blackstone, Gates in $4.7bn Signature Aviation bid
Global Infrastructure Partners has teamed up with rival bidders Blackstone and Microsoft founder Bill Gates to make a $4. 73bn (£3. 43bn) bid for Signature Aviation, the companies said on Friday.
UK and EU open probe into Nvidia's acquisition of Arm
The UK and European Union are set to open an in-depth competition investigation into the $40bn acquisition of Arm by US chipmaker Nvidia.
JD Sports on the prowl for acquisitions after raising £464m
JD Sports Fashion is on the hunt for new acquisitions after raising £464. 2m on Thursday in a share placing to finance expansion and acquisitions.
Shell swings to massive FY loss, raises first quarter dividend
Royal Dutch Shell reported its worst performance in two decades, posting a massive annual loss as the Covid pandemic hammered energy consumption, although it signalled a rise in the first quarter dividend.
BT Group on track for FY despite lower third quarter profits
British telecoms operator BT Group said it was on track to meet full-year forecasts despite a fall in third quarter core earnings.
Elon Musk triggers mass downloads of Robinhood app
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's chat with Robinhood boss Vlad Tenev on the audio-based social network Clubhouse on Sunday led to a stampede for invitations into the exclusive service.
US services sector activity picks up in January as outlook brightens -ISM
Growth in America's services sector picked up unexpectedly at the start of the year, driven by higher new orders and employment, according to the results of a closely-followed survey.
UK admits Brexit port delays more than 'teething problems'
UK government minister Michael Gove admitted that Brexit border delays were more than “teething problems” as he asked the EU for an extension to 2023 of grace periods for full checks on goods traded between Britain and Northern Ireland.
Virgin Money sets aside extra £18m for bad loans; Returns to profit in Q1
Virgin Money said it has aside another £18m in bad loan provisions in the first quarter to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as it reported a return to profit during the period.
Issa bros, TDR to sell Asda forecourts to own EG Group for £750m
Billionaire UK businessmen Zuber and Mohsin and TDR Capital are selling Asda's petrol forecourts business to their EG Group for £750m after completing their deal to buy the supermarket chain from Walmart.
Wizz Air January passenger numbers plunge 81.8%
Hungarian budget carrier Wizz Air said January passenger numbers plunged 81. 8% year on year as the new variants of the coronavirus and travel bans battered demand.
GSK, Curevac to develop vaccine for Covid-19 variants
GlaxoSmithKline and CureVac on Wednesday announced a new venture to develop a vaccine targeting emerging variants of Covid-19 in one jab.
AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine 82% effective, reduces transmission by two thirds
Spacing out the doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine by three months raises their effectiveness to 82%, the results of a new study revealed.
Amazon reaches settlement with US FTC on tips for drivers
US technology giant Amazon has reached a settlement with US regulators regarding charges that it failed to pay its Flex drivers the tips received from customer over the preceding two-and-a-half years.
Spain joins Austria and Germany, offers assistance to Portugal
Spain has offered to assist Portugal in treating patients ill with Covid-19 given the high caseload in the neighbouring country.
Covid-19 vaccines appear to be cutting transmission of virus in Israel
Covid-19 vaccines appear to be limiting both the number of new infections of the novel coronavirus and the number of hospitalisations in Israel.
Lockdown measures cause Eurozone GDP to falter
Activity in the Eurozone economy eased in the last three months of 2020, official data showed on Tuesday, after countries introduced fresh lockdown measures.