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Stocks hover near record high, oil skids on demand outlook – Reuters

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares stalled near record highs on Friday as investors weighed renewed doubts about a highly-anticipated coronavirus vaccine against hopes that some of the region’s economies will recovery quicker than their Western peers.

FILE PHOTO:The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Staff

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.04% but remained with striking distance of a life-time peak touched this week.

Australian shares ended down 0.53%. Treasury Wine Estates Ltd tumbled by 11.25% after China slapped tariffs on Australian wine, which is likely to worsen a diplomatic row between Beijing and Canberra.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.33% in choppy trade.

Shares in China rose 0.13% after data showed Chinese industrial profits surged at the fastest pace since early 2017. South Korean stocks also rose 0.27%.

U.S. S&P 500 e-mini stock futures fell 0.09%. U.S. financial markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and will trade on a partial schedule later on Friday.

Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.26%, German DAX futures fell 0.24%, and FTSE futures were down 0.22%, suggesting a soft start to the European session.

U.S. oil prices extended their declines from a seven-month high due to signs of oversupply.

British drugmaker AstraZeneca’s coronavirus drug was touted as a “vaccine for the world” due to its inexpensive cost, but the efficacy of the vaccine is now facing more intense scrutiny, which experts say could delay its approval.

Several scientists have raised doubts about the robustness of results showing the shot was 90% effective in a sub-group of trial participants who, by error initially, received a half dose followed by a full dose.

“With global case numbers having now topped 60 million… there is certainly some rough terrain ahead for the global recovery, and that can create economic scarring,” analysts at ANZ Bank wrote in a memo.

MSCI’s broadest gauge of world stocks was up 0.08% on Friday, sitting just below a record high reached in the previous session.

Concerns about the distribution of a coronavirus vaccine have placed renewed focus on the current state of the pandemic, which looks grim for many places.

U.S. hospitalizations for COVID-19 are at a record and experts warn that Thanksgiving gatherings could lead to further infections and deaths.

More than 20 million people across England will be forced to live under the toughest restrictions even after a national lockdown ends on Dec. 2. Partial lockdowns in some European countries have also raised concern about economic growth.

The European Central Bank’s chief economist highlighted these concerns in dovish comments on Thursday, which pushed European bond yields lower.

The euro, which last bought $1.1924, showed little reaction because currency traders have largely priced in expectations for additional ECB easing next month.

The dollar index fell toward its lowest in more than two months.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes fell to 0.8586% as some investors sought the safety of holding government debt.

U.S. crude dipped 1.82% to $44.88 a barrel. Brent crude fell 0.17% to $47.72 per barrel.

Fuel demand is falling due to renewed coronavirus lockdowns, but some oil producers are not complying with agreed production cuts, which raises concerns about oversupply.

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, edged up to $17,256 on Thursday, but it tumbled by 8.4% in the previous session after failing to take out its record high of $19,666.

The cryptocurrency showed little reaction to a report in the Financial Times that Facebook will launch its own Libra digital currency in limited format next year.

Bitcoin has rallied around 140% this year, fuelled by demand for riskier assets.

Reporting by Stanley White; editing by Richard Pullin, Lincoln Feast and Kim Coghill

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Netflix’s subscriber growth slows as gains from password-sharing crackdown subside

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Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service’s crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.

The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year. Even so, the company’s revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.

Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers — far more than any other streaming service.

The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company’s revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.

The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix’s stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company’s shares so far this year.

The past quarter’s subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch its popular service without paying for it.

The crackdown, triggered by a rare loss of subscribers coming out of the pandemic in 2022, helped Netflix add 57 million subscribers from June 2022 through this June — an average of more than 7 million per quarter, while many of its industry rivals have been struggling as households curbed their discretionary spending.

Netflix’s gains also were propelled by a low-priced version of its service that included commercials for the first time in its history. The company still is only getting a small fraction of its revenue from the 2-year-old advertising push, but Netflix is intensifying its focus on that segment of its business to help boost its profits.

In a letter to shareholder, Netflix reiterated previous cautionary notes about its expansion into advertising, though the low-priced option including commercials has become its fastest growing segment.

“We have much more work to do improving our offering for advertisers, which will be a priority over the next few years,” Netflix management wrote in the letter.

As part of its evolution, Netflix has been increasingly supplementing its lineup of scripted TV series and movies with live programming, such as a Labor Day spectacle featuring renowned glutton Joey Chestnut setting a world record for gorging on hot dogs in a showdown with his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi.

Netflix will be trying to attract more viewer during the current quarter with a Nov. 15 fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned boxer, and two National Football League games on Christmas Day.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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