Wall Street firms are lining up to show their kinder, gentler side as a pandemic-fueled malaise weighs on employees. Following a mea culpa from Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer David Solomon, who after a group of junior bankers complained promised to at least give them Saturday off, others are following suit. Citigroup was the latest, with CEO Jane Fraser banning internal video calls on Fridays and encouraging staff to—yes—take vacations. Jefferies Financial Group said last week that it would reward its youngest workers with fitness perks, including Peloton bikes. So has a new day dawned? We’ll see. —David E. Rovella Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic globally and across America. Here are today’s top stories AstraZeneca has run into vaccine trouble. Again. Foul-ups with earlier coronavirus vaccine trials and a blood clot controversy in Europe have now been followed by a public relations disaster in America. On Monday, the U.K. company said its drug fared better than expected in a U.S. clinical trial as the drugmaker plans to seek Food and Drug Administration clearance. But not long after, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases said officials charged with ensuring the safety and accuracy of the trial indicated the company’s data may give an “incomplete” view of the shot’s efficacy. AstraZeneca said it will quickly update its trial data, but the damage may already be done. The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine Photographer: Hannibal Hanschke/AFP/Getty Images Asian stocks were poised to open weaker after a faltering recovery and high infection rates weighed on U.S. equities while driving haven trades into Treasuries and the dollar. The S&P 500 Index declined and the small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 3.6% as beneficiaries of the reopening trade tumbled. An index of airline shares fell the most since October. Futures pointed lower in Japan and Hong Kong and were steady in Australia. Here is your markets wrap. From India to Greece and Norway to the Netherlands, Covid-19 infection rates are rising again. The U.S. rate, which had settled on a high plateau, is showing dangerous signs of heading back up. And the reluctance in some corners of America to get vaccinated may make matters worse, leading to 4.6 million more Covid-19 cases. With close to one-quarter of all infections and one-fifth of all deaths worldwide, there are 30 million Americans known to have had Covid-19, though the true number is likely much higher. Almost 544,000 of them have died. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. Myanmar’s military junta has shot dead at least 260 of its own citizens. It has imprisoned 1,000 more along with scores of journalists after perpetrating a coup and detaining elected officials. Nevertheless, it expects investments from Asian countries to continue. Smoke rises from barricades erected by democracy protesters after agents of the military junta attacked them in Yangon on March 16. Source: Getty Images/Getty Images Testifying before Congress Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said U.S. prices would rise this year as the pandemic recedes and Americans are able to go out and spend. He added however that it won’t get out of hand. The Fed plans to make climate change a major part of its Wall Street oversight. The Financial Stability Climate Committee will identify and respond to dangers global warming poses to the financial system, the central bank said. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pledged to work with Congress to ease the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions that’s been a key complaint of New York and New Jersey lawmakers in recent years. Passed as part of the 2017 tax overhaul by Republicans, they contend it was intended by to punish residents in states that traditionally lean Democratic. What you’ll need to know tomorrow China lashes out at U.S. allies after Biden takes a hard line. Exit polls show no clear winner in the latest Israeli election. Pfizer starts human trials of a new pill to treat Covid-19 infection. Robinhood Markets said to move forward with confidential IPO. Market watchdog warns young traders risk ruin with day-trader apps. Suspect in Boulder, Colorado mass-shooting is identified by police. Nintendo plans a new, fancy Nvidia chip for its gaming console.What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg PursuitsThe Volcon Grunt isn’t your typical motorcycle. It has cartoonishly blown-up rubber tires and a single cyclops-like LED headlight. It’s not a cruiser or street racer. In fact, it’s not even legal for street riding. But with a top speed of 60 mph, and an electric motor that its maker says can go 100 miles on a charge, what it can do is take you deep into nature and back, almost silently. Says Andrew Leisner, the CEO of Austin, Texas-based Volcon: “This is a motorcycle not designed for motorcyclists.” And there are a lot more where that came from. Source: Lightning Motorcycles; Background: Getty Images Like getting the Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters. Work Shifting: What Work Looks Like Next. Join us March 31 and hear from executives at IBM, Microsoft, Facebook and Prudential Financial on what the future of work looks like, what companies are doing to prepare and how organizations can become truly collaborative in a bid to stay competitive and profitable. Register here. Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more. |