The Daily Chase: Omicron fears fade as markets plod on; CIBC reaches financial crisis settlement
BNN Bloomberg
Fear about the Omicron strain of COVID-19 is moving to the backburner and apparently so is unease about central bank policy.
Momentum is still on the market’s side this morning, as futures point to more gains at the start of trading in New York after yesterday’s snap-back session. Fear about the Omicron strain of COVID-19 is moving to the backburner and apparently so is unease about central bank policy. Potentially also contributing to positive sentiment this morning: China’s exports and imports in November rose more than expected to record highs.
COVID sidebar: Quebec City-based Medicago and its partner GlaxoSmithKline this morning announced their COVID-19 vaccine achieved 71 per cent overall efficacy in Phase 3 trials. As such, Medicago said it will “imminently” seek Health Canada’s regulatory approval. Canada has agreed to purchase up to 76 million doses of the vaccine pending authorization.
CIBC CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
Some memories from dark days leading up to the financial crisis are being resurfaced after class action specialists Rochon Genova LLP announced last night that a settlement has been reached with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce stemming from disclosures made from mid-2007 to early 2008. Under the terms of the settlement (pending court approval) CIBC will pay $125 million to resolve the claims, which relate to disclosures made about the bank’s exposure to U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities.
INFLATION NATION
The second day of our special coverage begins with a look at pain at the pumps. Gasbuddy's head of petroleum analysis joins The Street at 8:30am to discuss the inflationary forces that drivers are encountering as the average national gas price sits almost 40 per cent above year-ago levels. And on the eve of the Bank of Canada’s policy announcement, BNNBloomberg.ca is setting the scene with a roundup of some economists’ expectations for the timing of a rate hike.
