COVID-19  – The US Food and Drug Administration is getting political heat to approve vaccines prior to the US election.
Bloomberg report firms are planning to band together to issue a pledge to not send any Covid-19 vaccine to the FDA for review without extensive safety and efficacy data

Weekly FX speculative positioning data from the CFTC

S&P and NASDAQ break 5 week win streak
It was a wild up and down trading day for the major US stock indices. At the end of the day the major indices all fell. For the week they also declined. The NASDAQ index was the weakest today and also for the week. 

Forex news from the European trading session – 4 September 2020
Headlines:
Markets:
– CAD leads, CHF lags on the day
– European equities mixed; E-minis flat

Comments by BOE policymaker, Michael Saunders
– Rebound in activity appears to be a bit faster than in May forecast
– But the rebound has reflected a benign window, which may be closing now
This will just bring more attention to the topic of negative rates for the BOE, especially with the spectre of a no-deal Brexit looming

Further comments by Saunders
– BOE did not discuss negative rates in August meeting
– Review of negative rates is not finished
– Review will look at indirect effects on banks, lending
An interesting choice of word there by Saunders i.e. ‚theologically‘ in the sense that his central bank beliefs does not exclude pursuing negative rates as an option

Reuters reports on the matter, citing a document from the White House
It is reported that the US has asked all government agencies for details of any funding that either supports or counters China and its business practices, amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

Says want to see data from all different vaccines to get a clear idea of which are actually offering protection
It will be tough to imagine how this isn’t going to be politicised despite the Covax scheme. Plenty of countries have already done private deals with pharmaceutical firms and that is going to be how this

Says that GOP are moving even further in the wrong direction
The battle rages on between US lawmakers on the coronavirus relief plan and Schumer’s remarks above are pretty much the same as what we have heard for over a month now. The clock is ticking as we move further down the fiscal cliff, as time

Latest data released by Challenger, Gray, and Christmas Inc
– 263k
Job cuts by US-based employers fell in August compared to July, but the cumulative count this year sees total layoffs hit 1.963 million – surpassing the previous annual all-time high in 2001 of 1.957 million layoffs.