Please see below for the latest Brooks MacDonald Weekly Investment Bulletin received by us yesterday 01/02/2021:
Vaccine nationalism raises its head as competing contracts and supply issues collide
A bout of risk off sentiment hit equities, bringing most European and US indices slightly negative for the first month of 2021. The risk of a vaccine trade war, less positive data from Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and the risk of further COVID-19 restrictions all dampened the mood. Friday saw a bubbling over of increasingly hostile words between the EU and AstraZeneca. In short, the EU imposed the right to ban vaccine exports outside of the EU (and select countries) and effectively imposed a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This proved only temporary, with the hard border reversed and the prospect of export bans to the UK played down as Friday and the weekend progressed. So called ‘vaccine nationalism’ has been a threat for several months as issues over regional supply chains combine with the sequencing of competing contracts and an increasingly frustrated populace. On Sunday, the UK announced that it had provided almost 600,000 vaccinations in one day (over 1% of adults), which may suggest that as supply increases, countries will be able to work quickly to inoculate their populations.
Markets look ahead to Friday’s US employment data after last month’s disappointment
This Friday sees the important non-farm payroll US employment figures released. Last month saw a decline of 140,000 jobs1 , the first decline since the first wave of the pandemic. This month economists are expecting a 50,000 increase and therefore for the headline 6.7% unemployment rate to remain stable2 . US economic data has shown resilience in the face of the current COVID-19 wave but there is still a large amount of spare capacity in the labour market, something that may curb any bubbling inflationary pressures. With employment a major item on President Biden’s agenda, it seems likely that the US Stimulus Package will move through Congress under the Budget Reconciliation rules. The downside of using this process is that there is a limit on the scope of the legislation and a limit on the number of times the process can be used.
US stimulus may progress using the budget reconciliation process but this has limits
The prospect of using the budget reconciliation process has dampened expectations of a bipartisan agreement that could leave the door open for further stimulus over the coming months. The reconciliation process means that the bill can pass with a simple majority in the Senate rather than being held up by the filibuster. The reconciliation process has historically only been used once per calendar year due to its inbuilt limitations, so there will be additional scrutiny on the proposed package if it is expected to be the only US stimulus in 2021.
Weekly investment bulletins like these are a good way to get regular input from market experts.
The mass rollout of the vaccine is set to cause gradual change to the market outlook, hopefully life and economies will improve.
Please keep up to date with our blogs.
Keep safe and well.
Paul Green 02/02/2021