Markets wrap: U.S. stocks fall on Clarida comments, jobs miss
U.S. equities slumped after the vice-chair of the Federal Reserve suggested rates could rise by 2023 and mixed economic data for July showed U.S. companies adding far fewer jobs than expected.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell as low as 1.13% before rising to nearly 1.2%, gold pared back a more than 1% increase, and the dollar was stronger after initial weakness.
The Fed’s Richard Clarida said the central bank was on track to begin interest rates hikes in 2023 with a possible taper announcement later this year. The comments came after hints the U.S. Treasury may cut bond sales this fall, and an ADP employment report was at odds with record ISM services index growth, indicating persistent hiring challenges despite improvements in the economy.
The S&P 500 fell, deepening losses after General Motors Co. missed profit estimates, while the Nasdaq 100 was higher with technology stocks outperforming.
“After losing 19.6 million jobs in March and April last year, we’ve since added back 13.1 million,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer for Bleakley Advisory Group, wrote in a note after of Friday’s U.S. jobs report. “I really don’t like to use the word ‘stagflation’ but we have a form of it now, unfortunately, which will make the job of the Federal Reserve even that much more difficult.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 index held on to a fresh record, with technology stocks leading the advance. The travel and leisure sector also outperformed as shares of online gaming companies recovered after Chinese state media toned down their criticism of the industry.
The day’s stock rotation calls the reopening trade into question, Cate Faddis, Grace Capital president and chief investment officer, said in an interview. “The market’s signaling we’re not out of the woods yet. On the other hand, we’ve had a very strong year. It’s rational for the market to take a deep breath.”
With stocks in Europe and the U.S. at or around record highs, equities have weathered concerns about the spread of delta virus variant as expectations for continued stimulus and solid earnings have propelled shares higher. However, risks still remain.
“Volatility has been high really over the course of the past 18 months and I think that reflects just continued uncertainty,” Wes Crill of Dimensional Fund Advisors said by phone. “Now you have the variant strain. Now you have concern over vaccination rates not being as high as maybe some would like to see. And that’s continuing to, in some ways, fuel market volatility, because that just increases the uncertainty.”
Oil fell to around $68 a barrel. Bitcoin rose to above $39,000.
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Here are some key events to watch this week:
-Bank of England is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate and its bond-buying target unchanged Thursday
– Reserve Bank of India monetary policy decision, briefing Friday
– The U.S. jobs report is expected to show another robust month of hiring Friday
For more market analysis read our MLIV blog.
These are the main moves in markets:
– – –
– The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 2:51 p.m. New York time
– The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
– The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.8%
– The MSCI World index was little changed
– – –
– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
– The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1836
– The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3892
– The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 109.51 per dollar
– – –
– The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.18%
– Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.50%
– Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.51%
– – –
– West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.6% to $68.02 a barrel
– Gold futures were little changed
Published : August 05, 2021
By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Kamaron Leach, Vildana Hajric
JSCCIB urges govt to lift public-debt ceiling to fund crisis recovery
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) has urged the government to lift the public debt ceiling from 60 per cent of GDP to 65-70 per cent in order to expand Covid-19 recovery measures.
Ameeting of the JSCCIB assessed that the government should increase economic recovery efforts to tackle worse-than-expected damage from Covid-19, said JSCCIB chairman and Thai Bankers’ Association president Payong Srivanich.
He said the stability of the business and household sectors is at risk.
Citing household debt that has soared over 90 per cent of GDP, he said households need relief to compensate for lost income during this period.
The government needs to build confidence by preparing an adequate budget for rehabilitation of the crisis-hit economy, he said. To do this, it should raise the public debt ceiling to 65-70 per cent of GDP.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) should consider easing its monetary policy with measures for financial institutions constrained by the near-zero policy rate.
JSCCIB also urged the government to allow the private sector to import vaccines freely without having to go through manufacturers, distributors or government agencies.
The Food and Drug Administration should also speed up approval of other vaccine brands without having to wait for the manufacturer to submit documents, the JSCCIB chief said.
He also urged the government to support a double tax break for the private sector to pay for the cost of purchasing rapid antigen test kits and vaccine, including allowing the private sector to help support the production and supply of the high-demand favipiravir drug.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,545.86 on Wednesday, up 5.35 points or 0.35 per cent. Transactions totalled THB66.89 billion with an index high of 1,548.63 and a low of 1,533.36.
In the morning session, Krungsri Securities predicted the index would fluctuate between 1,530 and 1,550 points amid positive sentiment from technical rebound signals and negative sentiment from worries over rising domestic Covid-19 cases and the falling price of oil.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were GPSC, GULF, 7UP, SNNP, PTT, KBANK, ADVANC, TIDLOR, CPALL and BCH.
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Other Asian indices were up, except Japan:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 27,584.08, down 57.75 points or 0.21 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,477.22, up 29.23 points or 0.85 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 14,990.11, up 253.19 points or 1.72 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 26,426.55, up 231.73 points or 0.88 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI closed at 3,280.38, up 43.24 points or 1.34 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX closed at 17,623.89, up 70.13 points or 0.40 per cent.
The price of gold bobbed up by THB50 per baht weight in morning trade on Wednesday.
AGold Traders Association report at 9.23am showed the buying price of a gold bar at THB28,250 per baht weight and selling price at THB28,350, while gold ornaments cost THB27,742.80 and THB28,850, respectively.
At close on Tuesday, the buying price of a gold bar was THB28,200 per baht weight and selling price THB28,300, while gold ornaments cost THB27,697.32 and THB28,800, respectively.
The spot gold price on Wednesday morning was moving around US$1,813 (THB59,982) per ounce after Comex gold at close on Tuesday dropped by $8.10 to $1,814.1 per ounce due to pressure from the appreciation of the dollar, a rebound in the US government bond yield and a robust performance by the US stock market.
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The Hong Kong gold price meanwhile rose by HK$10 to $16,790 (THB71,457) per teal, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
SET to fluctuate today amid both positive and negative sentiments
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index fell by 0.16 points or 0.01 per cent to 1,540.35 on Wednesday morning.
Krungsri Securities predicted the index would fluctuate between 1,530 and 1,550 points amid positive sentiment over technical rebound signals and negative sentiment from worries over rising domestic Covid-19 cases as well as a falling oil price.
It recommended selective buying of these companies’ shares as an investment strategy:
▪︎ Hana, KCE, TU, CPF, Asian, EPG and Sun, which benefit from a weakening baht.
▪︎ BCH, CHG, BDMS, DoHome, BEM, CKP, CBG, OSP, Ichi, GPSC, BEC, Gunkul, JWD, Wice, Sonic and NER, whose second-quarter business turnover is expected to improve.
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The SET Index closed at 1,540.51 on Tuesday, up 15.40 points or 1.01 per cent. Transactions totalled THB69.69 billion with an index high of 1,540.52 and a low of 1,524.37.
The baht opened at 33.04 to the US dollar on Wednesday, weakening from Tuesday’s closing rate of 33.01.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 32.95 and 33.10 during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
Poon explained that the baht was weakening while the US dollar could swing sideways. The baht was unlikely to strengthen soon as the Covid-19 situation in Thailand could worsen, with Wednesday seeing more than 20,000 cases.
The baht will continue to weaken until the Covid-19 situation gets better, which is expected to be in early September, he added.
Poon believed the Thai currency would not weaken below 33 if investors felt “safe” from the worldwide Covid-19 situation and hence did not need to hold onto safe-haven assets.
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He expected the key resistance level would be between 33.10 and 33.20 to the US dollar, while the support level would be between 32.80 and 32.90, which is the price range that importers are waiting for as a pullback to close risks.
Stocks rise as earnings offset virus, oil concerns
U.S. equities gained on Tuesday while stocks in Europe topped a record as mostly positive earnings were able to offset fresh concerns about Chinas technology clampdown and the delta virus variant.
The S&P 500 rose as Ralph Lauren Corp., Gartner Inc. and Under Armour Inc. gained after earnings. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 recovered from earlier losses after the Chinese state media criticized the “spiritual opium” of gaming and the U.K. was said to be considering a block on Nvidia Corp.’s $40 billion deal to acquire Arm Ltd.
Crude oil pared back some of its earlier losses, helping to propel energy shares higher. Earlier the sector pushed the Stoxx Europe 600 to a record after BP Plc followed its Big Oil peers by increasing dividends and share buybacks. However, a deepening decline in oil prices weighed on the gains as the spread of the delta virus variant continued to pose a risk to demand. Markets had also slumped earlier on news New York City will require proof of vaccination for customers at indoor restaurants and gyms.
“I think what you’re going to continue to see is this continued volatility. For a while, the primary volatility focus was is there inflation or isn’t there?” JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said in an interview. “This week it’s the good earnings versus the variant, and will it pause the reopening of businesses?”
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 1.17% after dipping as low as 1.15%. Meanwhile the dollar was little changed against major peers.
Second-quarter earnings have been robust for the most part, but the months-long advance in Treasuries could point to a weaker period ahead. Traders are awaiting key U.S. jobs data this week to gauge the recovery and are monitoring the impact of price pressures sparked by pandemic-related disruptions. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he could back a tapering announcement by September, if the next two monthly U.S. employment reports show continued gains.
“Recent weeks and months have been a churning and choppy time for equities,” wrote Willie Delwiche, an investment strategist at All Star Charts. “Large-cap U.S. indexes have chopped and churned higher, while beneath the surface (and overseas) the chopping and churning have had a downward bias. Strong convictions about either breakouts or breakdowns have not been rewarded.”
Crude oil fell to less than $71 a barrel in New York. Bitcoin hovered around $38,000.
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Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.8%
The MSCI World index rose 0.5%
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Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
The euro was little changed at $1.1866
The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3918
The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 109.06 per dollar
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Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasurys was little changed at 1.17%
Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.48%
Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.52%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $70.62 a barrel
Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,814 an ounce
Published : August 04, 2021
By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Jennifer Bissell-Linsk, Vildana Hajric
IMF nations approve record $650 billion to aid virus fight
Member nations approved the biggest resource injection in the International Monetary Funds history, with $650 billion meant to help countries deal with mounting debt and the fallout from the covid-19 pandemic.
The creation of the reserve assets — known as special drawing rights — is the first since the $250 billion issued just after the global financial crisis in 2009, with Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva billing it as “a shot in the arm for the world” that will help boost global economic stability. The SDR allocation will be effective on Aug. 23, the IMF said in a statement Monday.
“The SDR allocation will benefit all members, address the long-term global need for reserves, build confidence, and foster the resilience and stability of the global economy,” Georgieva said. “It will particularly help our most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the covid-19 crisis.”
The guardians of the global economy have wrestled with the plan for more than a year. It was initially delayed when the U.S. — the IMF’s biggest shareholder — blocked it in early 2020. Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary under President Donald Trump, said that the funds wouldn’t get to the nations that most need it. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., called it a “giveaway to wealthy countries and rogue regimes” such as China, Russia and Iran.
The U.S.’s position changed under President Joe Biden and Mnuchin’s successor, Janet Yellen, and with the fund exploring options for members with strong financial positions to reallocate the reserves to support vulnerable and low-income countries. Still, a global allocation of $650 billion was about the maximum that the U.S. could support without needing to get approval from Congress.
Reserves are allocated to all 190 members of the IMF in proportion to their quota, and some 70% will go to the Group of 20 largest economies, with just 3% for low-income nations. Overall, 58% of the new SDRs go to advanced economies, with 42% for emerging and developing economies. So of the $650 billion, about $21 billion go to low-income countries and $212 billion to other emerging market and developing countries, without counting China, according to U.S. Treasury Department calculations.
The Group of Seven advanced economies in June endorsed a plan to reallocate $100 billion of new SDRs to poorer countries, but the G-20 in July only specified support for a general allocation of $650 billion in SDRs, without detailing how much would be re-lent.
Reallocation will be crucial to help countries in Africa, for which only about $33 billion is earmarked in the SDR issuance. France has committed to reallocating part of its SDRs for countries on the continent.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously said that from the total allocation, about one-quarter — equivalent to around $162 billion — should be made available to African countries. He has called on rich nations to donate — and not just on-lend — their allotments.
Rich nations currently can use the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust to help channel reserves to low-income countries interest free. Fund staff also are working to set up the so-called Resilience and Stability Trust for redirecting new reserves to vulnerable low-middle-income countries and small island economies, an option that Georgieva has said she hopes will be established by year-end.
The fund will “continue to engage actively with our membership to identify viable options for voluntary channeling of SDRs from wealthier to poorer and more vulnerable member countries to support their pandemic recovery and achieve resilient and sustainable growth” Georgieva said in Monday’s statement.
More than 200 groups including the Jubilee USA Network, a nonprofit that advocates debt relief for developing countries, had called on the G-20 to support the creation of $3 trillion in SDRs, saying the funds are needed to help free up resources for health care and social spending.
“Developing countries need more aid to get beyond the crisis,” Eric LeCompte, the executive director of Jubilee USA Network, said in a statement late Monday. “Wealthy countries receive most of these emergency reserves and must donate them to developing countries.”
Published : August 04, 2021
By : Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Eric Martin
Biden calls for Cuomo to resign after report finds the New York governor sexually harassed 11 women
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state employees, creating a hostile work environment for women in violation of state and federal law, state Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.
Hours after the release of a 165-page report that detailed numerous allegations against Cuomo, President Joe Biden said he believed the Democratic governor to resign, joining a chorus of similar calls by other party officials.
Investigators laid out a devastating portrait of Cuomo’s behavior and extensive examples of unwanted physical touching, including an incident last November in which Cuomo embraced an executive assistant and reached under her blouse to grab her breast. Witnesses also described an environment in the governor’s office that was abusive and vindictive, with one of the women who came forward targeted for retaliation through the release of her personnel file, investigators said.
In all, the independent probe found that Cuomo harassed 11 women, including a state trooper whom the governor arranged to be put on his detail.
“This investigation has revealed conduct that corrodes the very fabric and character of our state government,” James, D, said at a news conference.
The findings mark a new low for once-celebrated Democratic star, who won an Emmy in 2020 for his nationally televised briefings during the pandemic, appeared on track for reelection to a fourth term in 2022 and was frequently discussed as a presidential contender. He is now isolated from his own party’s leadership, the result of a months-long investigation that was based on interviews with 179 individuals, including women who accused the governor of misconduct, Cuomo himself and a coterie of his top advisers.
The probe was launched after multiple women accused Cuomo of inappropriate personal comments or unwelcome physical contact earlier this year.
On Tuesday, James deflected questions from reporters about whether Cuomo should resign, saying “that decision is ultimately up to the governor of the state of New York.” She said her office was not making any criminal referrals but noted that the report was publicly available.
Separately, Albany County District Attorney Davis Soares disclosed an ongoing criminal investigation of Cuomo by his office. “We will be formally requesting investigative materials obtained by the AG’s Office, and we welcome any victim to contact our office with additional information,” Soares said in a statement.
In a video address Tuesday afternoon, Cuomo maintained a defiant posture. He said he would continue serving as governor and defended himself as a champion of women and victims of sexual harassment. “The facts are much different than what has been portrayed,” he said.
“That’s not who I am,” the governor said of his depiction in the attorney general’s report.
Cuomo denied the claim that he groped an executive assistant’s breast. “That never happened,” he said. He said other complainants sought to “unfairly characterize and weaponize everyday interactions,” noting his tendency to greet women and men warmly.
After months of asking New Yorkers to withhold judgment until the attorney general’s report was released, his office released an extensive rebuttal document, calling the probe “an utterly biased investigation” that “willfully ignored evidence.”
The document included eight pages of photographs of Cuomo kissing and hugging other officials in public, and a second exhibit filled with photographs of other prominent Democratic officials, including President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former president Barack Obama doing the same.
The governor also said he would bring in an “expert” to provide him and his office with sexual harassment training.
But the extent of the political fallout for Cuomo remains to be seen. When asked about the report Tuesday afternoon, Biden told reporters, “I think he should resign.”
“Look, I’m not going to flyspeck this,” the president added. “I’m sure there are some embraces that were totally innocent. But apparently the attorney general decided there were things that weren’t.”
Pelosi and three House Democrats from New York also called on the governor to step down, joining about a dozen from the state delegation who had previously done so.
“We commend the brave women who came forward and spoke truth to power,” Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Thomas Suozzi and Gregory Meeks said in a statement. “The time has come for Governor Andrew Cuomo to do the right thing for the people of New York State and resign.”
The state’s two Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, also reiterated their calls for his resignation.
“No elected official is above the law,” they said in a statement. “The people of New York deserve better leadership in the governor’s office. We continue to believe that the Governor should resign.”
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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D, called the report “disturbing” and the victim accounts “gut-wrenching.”
But he stopped short of saying the findings were sufficient to move forward with impeachment proceedings against Cuomo. “We will now undertake an in-depth examination of the report and its corresponding exhibits with our Assembly counsels as well [as] the legal firm we have retained to assist us,” he said in a statement. “We will have more to say in the very near future.”
Investigators detailed numerous occasions in which they said Cuomo violated sexual harassment statutes: The governor allegedly grabbed the buttocks of an employee of another state office, made sexually suggestive comments to a young female assistant and inappropriately touched other women not employed by the state.
Joon Kim, the former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York appointed by James to help lead the investigation, said some women “suffered through unwanted touching and grabbing of their most intimate body parts.”
“The executive chamber’s workplace culture was rife with bullying, fear and intimidation on one hand while normalizing frequent flirtations and gender-based comments by the governor on the other,” Kim added.
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The report detailed the account of a female state trooper in her late 20s, whose allegations had not been previously reported, who was hired onto Cuomo’s detail after he met her, even though she did not have adequate experience. He would ask her questions about her attire, such as why she did not wear a dress, the report said. She told him it was impossible to carry a gun when wearing a dress.
The governor also touched the trooper inappropriately on several occasions, running his finger down her spine when he was standing behind her on an elevator, according to the report. In another episode, Cuomo allegedly ran his hand across her stomach as she held the door open for him at an event.
“I felt . . . completely violated because to me . . . that’s between my chest and my privates,” the trooper testified, adding: “But, you know, I’m here to do a job.”
Separately, the report detailed inappropriate behavior the governor allegedly exhibited toward a young executive assistant employed in his executive chamber – actions that escalated to unwanted touching.
One day, Cuomo told her it was “about time you showed some leg” when she wore a dress, she told investigators, and later asked if she had kissed or “fooled around” with someone other than her husband.
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At one point, the governor said to her something like, “If you were single, the things I would do to you,” she recalled.
In one incident in December 2019, he asked her to take a selfie with him and then “moved his hand to grab her butt cheek and began to rub it,” the report said. The executive assistant was shaking so much that the photos were blurry.
Eleven months later, the executive assistant was dispatched to assist Cuomo at the executive mansion. As she was leaving, he slammed the door shut and slid his hand up her blouse, cupping her breast, the report said.
“I remember thinking to myself who – I knew what just went on, I knew and he knew too that was wrong,” she told investigators. “And that I in no way, shape or form invited that nor did I ask for it. I didn’t want it. I feel like I was being taken advantage of.”
Cuomo denied that he touched her.
The assistant said she planned to stay quiet about what had happened and take it “to the grave,” but later told others after she grew distraught watching Cuomo deny publicly that he had ever touched a woman inappropriately.
The report also found that Cuomo made numerous suggestive sexual comments that constituted “unlawful sexual harassment.” These included telling the female state trooper that his criteria for a girlfriend was someone who “can handle pain,” suggesting a buttock tattoo to one aide and calling two executive assistants “mingle mamas” while asking one of them whether she would be willing to cheat on her partner.
In a long interview with investigators in late July, the governor admitted to some of the claims against him, according to special deputy Anne L. Clark, but put a “different spin on them,” she said. In some instances, he denied allegations or said he did not remember details.
The rebuttal document released by Cuomo on Tuesday disputes the characterizations of his accusers and argues that Cuomo maintained a “family” atmosphere in his office.
“He is informal with his staff and banters with all employees, again, regardless of gender, in an effort to bring collegiality and levity to their high-pressure and demanding positions,” his attorney Rita Glavin wrote. “He is interested in their lives.”
But the women he targeted found Cuomo’s behavior humiliating, offensive or inappropriate, according to the investigation. In a text exchange with a close friend after one conversation with Cuomo, aide Charlotte Bennett wrote, “Something just happened and I can’t even type it out . . . GOING TO BURST INTO TEARS.”
The claims surfaced publicly earlier this year when Lindsey Boylan, a former aide, wrote in an online post that the governor had sexually harassed her for years, saying he touched her lower back and arms and once kissed her. His aides later released details from her personnel file, an action the investigation concluded was “unlawful retaliation.”
Days after Boylan’s post, then-former aide Bennett alleged in an interview with the New York Times that Cuomo made suggestive comments she interpreted as sexual advances.
Other women said the governor quizzed them about their dating lives, part of an office culture they viewed as degrading and toxic.
The attorney general’s report found that Cuomo’s office did not handle complaints according to state law.
“We conclude that the Executive Chamber failed to follow its own policies and procedures related to sexual harassment in responding to several of the complaints,” the report said.
The governor and his aides sought to undermine the women who came forward and undercut the investigators, the report concluded.
After Boylan tweeted that the governor was “one of the biggest abusers of all time,” top aide Melissa DeRosa asked for her “full file.” It was then disseminated to a number of reporters over several days by Cuomo aides and advisers, according to the investigation.
Cuomo also drafted an op-ed to attack Boylan but was talked out of it by advisers who reviewed it and found it to be “victim shaming that they found inadvisable.”
In addition, records uncovered by the investigators show that days after Cuomo said he welcomed the investigation, a longtime adviser said he was being asked to “spread oppo” about Kim. At another point, Cuomo advisers asked for conversations with potential victims to be recorded for information they could use to potentially defend the governor. But the recordings weren’t used because they didn’t go well, DeRosa testified.
Other state officials were brought in to assist with damage control.
At one point, Larry Schwartz, the state’s vaccine czar and a longtime Cuomo adviser, called county executives to ask if they were going to issue public statements for the governor to resign, the report found.
The investigation said DeRosa, the governor’s top aide, requested the calls, which made the county officials uncomfortable because they viewed them as implicit threats linking their access to vaccines to their stance on Cuomo’s actions.
And CNN anchor Chris Cuomo helped his brother draft a statement to address the allegations and attended calls with other advisers to discuss the matter, according to the investigation.
Chris Cuomo told investigators “there was discussion about remedial measures the Chamber should take in light of the sexual harassment allegations, but some people had taken the position that they should just wait,” according to the report.
The independent investigation was conducted by Kim, a partner at the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and Clark, a longtime employment and discrimination attorney. Both were appointed by James after Cuomo – under pressure from fellow Democrats – referred allegations about his behavior to her office.
Debra Katz, a lawyer for Bennett, said the investigation showed “egregious” sexual harassment and that his inner circle was “aware of the allegations and enabled him to continually sexually harass women, or just moved the women out.”
She called Cuomo’s rebuttal “disturbing.”
“If he really cared about the treatment of women in New York state, he would step down,” she said.
Even before it was released, Cuomo and his team tried to undermine the report, claiming that James has been using the probe to burnish her standing for a possible gubernatorial run. They also have accused the attorney general’s office of disclosing information to the news media, without providing evidence of such leaks.
Cuomo had been expected to seek a fourth term next year and has retained an approval rating in New York around 50% despite the slew of allegations, though some of his advisers saw it as his toughest race yet.
The governor remains under investigation by federal and state authorities on a number of other issues, including his administration’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic, the preferred access that Cuomo family members were given to coronavirus testing, and work that state employees did on a memoir about his leadership during the pandemic that secured him a $5 million advance.
Published : August 04, 2021
By : The Washington Post · Josh Dawsey, Michael Scherer
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,540.51 on Tuesday, up 15.40 points or 1.01 per cent. Transactions totalled THB69.69 billion with an index high of 1,540.52 and a low of 1,524.37.
In the morning session, Krungsri Securities expected the SET Index today to fluctuate between 1,515 and 1,535 points. Market conditions indicated negative sentiment from a weakening crude oil price and disappointing July figures for the US and Chinese manufacturing sectors.
The extension of Thailand’s partial lockdown for another month in the Dark Red zone and expansion of the zone to 29 provinces are adding to negative sentiment, Krungsri Securities said.
However, it expected mass buy-ups of shares in the export sector and improved second-quarter corporate results to support a rebound of the index.
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The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were KBANK, ADVANC, SCB, PTT, BANPU, DTAC, RCL, BCH, BBL and GUNKUL.
Other Asian indices were mixed:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 27,641.83, down 139.19 points or 0.50 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite Index closed at 3,447.99, down 16.29 points or 0.47 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component Index closed at 14,736.92, down 61.24 points or 0.41 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 26,194.82, down 40.98 points or 0.16 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI closed at 3,237.14, up 14.10 points or 0.44 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX closed at 17,553.76, up 50.48 points or 0.29 per cent.
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