|
 The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness rose above 138 million on Thursday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, as the death toll climbed above 2.97 million. The U.S. leads the world in cases and deaths by wide margins, with 31.4 million cases, or about 23% of the global total, while the 564,405 death toll make of about 19% of the global toll. The U.S. added at least 75,267 new cases and 932 new deaths on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker. The U.S. has averaged 71,511 cases a day in the past week, up 11% from the average two weeks ago. The CDC's advisory committee voted to extend the federal "pause" halting immunizations with Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine over concerns over severe cases of blood clots reported in six people who have received the J&J shot. Much of the discussion at the end of the meeting focused on whether committee members needed additional clinical information before making a formal recommendation or whether waiting to make a choice would further harm Americans at risk for contracting COVID-19.
Outside of the U.S., India has replaced Brazil as the country with the second highest number of cases at 14 million, and is fourth globally by deaths at 173,123. Brazil is third by cases at 13.7 million and second with a death toll of 361,884. Mexico is third by deaths at 210,812 and 14th highest by cases at 2.3 million. The U.K. has 4.4 million cases and 127,407 deaths, the highest in Europe and fifth highest in the world.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
|
|
Shares of Bank of America Corp. rose 1.8% toward a 13-year high in premarket trading Thursday, after the bank reported profit that more than doubled and beat expectations, citing strong growth in capital markets and lower credit costs, and set a $25 billion stock repurchase program. Net income rose to $8.1 billion, or 86 cents a share, from $4.0 billion, or 40 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was 66 cents. Total revenue was unchanged at $22.8 billion, but topped the FactSet consensus of $21.90 billion, while net interest income (NII) dropped 15.9% to $10.20 billion to fall shy of expectations of $10.27 billion. Consumer banking revenue fell 12% to $8.1 billion, as lower rates led to lower NII, while global markets revenue climbed 19% to $6.2 billion. Provision for credit losses improved to a benefit of $1.9 billion from a cost of $4.8 billion. Separately, the bank said it has authorized the repurchase of up to $25 billion worth of common stock over time. That represents about 7.3% of Bank of America's market capitalization of $344.29 billion. The stock, which is on track to open at the highest price seen since May 2008, has rallied 20.8% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 9.5%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
|
|
