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Covid-19 concerns caused global markets to fall on Monday. Pictured: A market maker is seen wearing a face mask and protective visor on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, 21 September 2020. Photo credit: New York Stock Exchange 

Stock markets slide on covid-19 fears

US and European equity markets were down on Monday, with investors concerned about the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic and the possible reintroduction of restrictions that could dampen the economy. Wall Street’s S&P 500 index slid by 1.2%, its fourth straight day of decline, while Frankfurt’s Dax dropped 4% and London’s FTSE 100 lost 3.5%. In addition, several bank stocks were driven down by recent money laundering revelations. Sources: Associated Press, CNBC, CNN, Financial Times and The Guardian.

Tightening coronavirus restrictions

Britain: Pubs and restaurants in England will need to shut down by 10pm and only provide table service, to help reduce covid-19 transmission, under rules to be outlined today. Sources: BBC and The Guardian. Germany: Despite a rising infection rate, officials said there would not be a second national lockdown. Sources: Deutsche Welle and Yahoo Finance UK. Spain: Part of Madrid reentered lockdown today, while in other areas gatherings will be limited to 6 people and parks closed. Sources: Euractiv and Euronews.

Latest Luxembourg coronavirus figures

10 people out of the 829 PCR tests performed on Sunday were positive for covid-19. This is a sharp reduction from last week; there were 177 positive results on Thursday, 86 on Friday and 103 on Saturday. However, the RT effective reproductive rate (1.44) remained well above the targeted threshold of 1. Sources: Health ministry, Paperjam and 100,7.

Unemployment claims down

Luxembourg’s unemployment rate was 6.4% in August, a fifth higher than in August 2019 but down from 7% in May 2020. Sources: Delano and Paperjam.

Demand steady for partial unemployment aid

The number of companies that applied for the short-time working scheme for October was down slightly: 2,849 compared to 3,085 for September. (Nearly all applications were approved.) However, the number of workers enrolled increased: from 15,690 full-time equivalent employees in September to 23,122 in October. Source: Economy ministry.

Galeries Lafayette reviewing Luxembourg location

The French department store Galeries Lafayette is reportedly renegotiating its lease at the Royal-Hamilius shopping centre. It opened the 6,500 square metre location in November 2019. The retailer “formally denied” that it would shut down the location. The property developer said financial terms were being discussed in light of the covid-19 crisis. Source: Paperjam.

Airbus introduces “ZEROe” hydrogen planes

The aerospace giant Airbus presented plans for the first zero-emission commercial passenger plane. The hydrogen-fueled aircraft could take the skies starting in 2035. Sources: BBC, CNBC and Euronews.

Microsoft buying popular video game maker

The tech giant Microsoft will acquire Zenimax, a gaming publisher, for $7.5bn. Zenimax is the firm behind games including “Elder Scrolls”, “Fallout”, “Doom” and “Wolfenstein”. Some of the titles will become exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox platform. Sources: Associated Press, Financial Times, Marketwatch and New York Times.

Six charged in Amazon Marketplace scheme

US authorities accused 6 people of bribing Amazon employees and contractors to allegedly give certain sellers unfair advantages worth more than $100m in the e-commerce firm’s marketplace. The company said: “there is no place for fraud at Amazon.” Sources: CNBC, Marketwatch and The Verge.

Nikola founder quits

Trevor Milton, founder of the electric truck maker Nikola, resigned as executive chairman of the firm following fraud allegations. He leaves with $3bn in stock. Sources: Associated Press, CNBC, Financial Times and Marketwatch.

EU fails to set Belarus sanctions

A collective EU response to the situation in Belarus has been blocked by Cyprus, said the bloc’s foreign policy chief. Sources: Deutsche Welle, Financial Times, The Guardian and Politico.

Australian whale rescue continues

A large number of the 270 pilot whales stranded off the coast of Tasmania have died, while a few have successfully freed. Sources: ABC News, BBC and NPR.

Agenda

Wednesday 23 September, 12noon: Denise Voss of Luxflag talks about sustainable investing during this Delano Live Chat. Thursday 24 September, 6pm: Polish chamber’s monthly meetup. Friday 25-Sunday 27 September: Race for the Cure, digital version. Wednesday 30 September, 6:30pm: Digital privacy apéro. Friday 9-Saturday 10 October: Game of Code hackathon.

Michael Lonsdale

The actor Michael Lonsdale, best known for roles in “Moonraker”, “The Day of the Jackal” and “Ronin”, died at the age of 89. Sources: BBC, CNN and The Guardian.

Design boost

SpaceX’s astronaut suits were created by an action movie costume designer, per GQ.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald