The Ant Group headquarters in Hangzhou, in China’s eastern Zhejiang province.
STR/AFP via Getty Images
Here’s what you need to know to navigate the markets today.
• Ant Group CEO Simon Hu has resigned for personal reasons, the company said on Friday. Ant Group, which operates the Alipay electronic payments network, is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding. Ant Group’s plan for an initial public offering was canceled late last year amid heightened scrutiny by regulators. Hu had taken over as CEO from Ant Group Chairman Eric Jing in December 2019. Following Hu’s departure, Jing will return to the CEO role. (read more)
• Wholesale inflation in the U.S. cooled during February. The producer-price index for final demand during February increased by 0.5%, following a 1.3% jump in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The PPI increase in February was driven by energy prices, which rose 6%, while gasoline prices rose 13.1%. In the12 months through February, the PPI rose 2.8%. (read more)
• Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has risen to its highest level in a year. The initial reading of 83 for the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index for early March came in ahead of the consensus estimate of 78.9, among economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. (read more)
• Shares of Novavax (ticker: NVAX) shot up as much 16% in morning trading Friday, after the company announced late Thursday that its Covid-19 vaccine was 89.7% effective at preventing mild to severe symptoms in a Phase 3 study of 15,000 people in the U.K. (read more)
Write to [email protected]
