New York City faces the prospect of another “full shutdown” due to an increasing level of coronavirus infections, mayor Bill de Blasio warned. “We need to recognise that that may be coming and we need to get ready for that now,” he told CNN on Monday, saying employees should avoid offices and work from home as much as possible.
US stocks slipped for the fourth consecutive day on Monday as investors awaited word on whether policymakers in Washington would come to agreement on a $908bn stimulus package. The S&P 500 slid 0.4 per cent, with more than 70 per cent of companies within the benchmark falling at the start of the week. Energy and bank shares were among the hardest hit.
Vaccine-related issues remain the biggest risk to markets next year, according to a Deutsche Bank survey of 984 market professionals, with 38 per cent of respondents saying a virus mutation that would dodge the vaccine — which was administered for the first time in the US on Monday —…