Back to normal life in New York

France’s GDP on the rise in the first quarter

INSEE this morning published the GDP figures, up 0.4% (consensus 0.1%), against a drop of 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2020. GDP is 555,421 M €, which is still 4.4% of less than the pre-crisis level. Production is also up 0.4%.

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GDP, Volume at prices of the previous year, source: Insee

The Chinese manufacturing PMI index came out at 51.1, the consensus was expecting a better result, at almost 52 points. As a reminder, a rating above 50 means that the market is expanding, below it is contracting. This index is calculated according to a survey of company purchasing managers. Shanghai drops nearly 1% after the announcement.

China’s non-manufacturing PMI is not doing better than expected either. 54.9 to 56.1, the latter is considered less impacting for the markets, according to economists.

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Indice PMI Manufacturing China, Source : ForexFactory.com

Dispute between Russia and Brazil over Sputnik V vaccine

Anvisa, the committee of the Brazilian health regulator, rejected the importation of the Sputnik V vaccine on Monday for risks, serious defects and lack of information on its safety and effectiveness. The regulator later admitted not to have tested the vaccine. The developers of the Sputnik V vaccine are therefore initiating legal proceedings against Anvisa for defamation and dissemination of false information.

A return to normal life for New Yorkers

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on television that the city was ready to come back to life. Thus stores, corporate offices and cultural venues such as theaters could reopen their doors, by July 10, at full capacity. If the mayor of the city, which has 8.3 million inhabitants, seems so confident, it is because nearly 76% of the population of the Big Apple is already vaccinated. A rate slightly above that of the country, which is equal to 70%, according to data from the CDC. Well above vaccination levels in Europe where most countries are around 30%.

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Vaccination rate in the US, source: CDC.org (Click to enlarge)

SMEs: 100,000 failures in 2021?

This Wednesday, the president of the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME), expressed his concerns on the set of BFM Business. François Asselin has indeed declared that over the next 12 months, we could see 65,000 to 100,000 company bankruptcies. This is the consequence of the end of the aid provided by the State, and the continuation of the health restrictions which weigh on certain sectors. A CPME survey at the start of the year already warned of this possible wave of default, since nearly one in two managers feared not being able to repay the PGE, and anticipated a drop in turnover.