- IMF: Covid-19 vaccines to power global recovery
- UK jobless rate at four-year high; 828,000 jobs gone since pandemic started
- European stock markets rise after two days of declines
- Optimism improves among German exporters
- Lunchtime summary
BlackRock has threatened to sell its shares in the worst corporate polluters, as the world’s largest asset manager pledged to support the goal of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, writes my colleague Jasper Jolly.
Larry Fink, BlackRock’s chief executive, said the coronavirus pandemic had increased focus on existential climate risks, in his annual letter to chief executives around the world.
Related: Asset manager BlackRock threatens to sell shares in worst climate polluters
With the new Biden administration preparing to pump an extra $1.9tn into the US economy and Chinese economic growth likely to surge to 8.6% this year, much of it after a huge boost from state-sponsored investment, the prospect for higher growth than foreseen last October has improved, the IMF says.
The upgrade is particularly large for the advanced economy group, reflecting additional [government] support – mostly in the United States and Japan – together with expectations of earlier widespread vaccine availability compared to the emerging market and developing economy group.