European Economics Preview: UK Unemployment Data Due

Unemployment from the UK and economic sentiment from Germany are due on Tuesday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK labor market statistics. The jobless rate is forecast to rise to 4.1 percent in July from 3.9 percent in June.

In the meantime, foreign trade figures are due from Statistics Norway.

At 2.45 am ET, France’s statistical office Insee is set to publish final consumer prices for August. According to preliminary estimate, inflation rose to 0.2 percent from 0.8 percent in July.

At 3.30 am ET, Statistics Sweden releases unemployment data for August. Economists forecast the jobless rate to rise to 9.8 percent from 8.9 percent in July.

At 4.00 am ET, Italy’s Istat is scheduled to publish final consumer prices for August. The statistical office is set to confirm 0.5 percent annual fall in consumer prices.

At 5.00 am ET, Germany’s ZEW economic confidence survey data is due. The economic sentiment index is seen falling to 69.8 in September from 71.5 in August.

Serena Williams In US Open Quarterfinals Winning Tough Three-setter

Six-time champion Serena Williams won a tough three-set battle against Greek lady Maria Sakkari to advance to the US Open quarterfinals.

It became more evident in this year’s US Open outings so far that things are not easy for Williams as the 38-year-old tennis super star had to fight three grueling sets in two consecutive matches for survival.

Williams looked composed as she took the first set in 37 minutes but dropped the second in a tiebreak.

Serena had to take out her best tennis to come back from 0-2 down in the third by winning six of the match’s final seven games.

The two-and-a half hour long match ended with the score line going in Serene’s favor; 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3.

Williams is just three wins away from what would be her Grand Slam singles title No. 24.

US Open Day 8 also witnessed victory for Victoria Azarenka and Tsvetana Pironkova, which means for the first time, three mothers have entered the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

In the men’s section, No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev completed the field’s final eight.

Thiem draws the speedy Alex de Minuar in the quarters. The 21-year-old Aussie saved four consecutive set points, from 2-6 in the opening-set tiebreak, before racing past Vasek Pospisil in Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Medvedev set up an all-Moscow quarterfinal with Andrey Rublev.

China, EU push for greater economic relations

Chinese president stops short of making any concessions on European demands for greater access to the Chinese market.

European leaders have pressed China on its human rights record during a virtual summit on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping dismissed the concerns, pushing instead for greater economic cooperation.

But he stopped short of making any concessions on European demands for greater access to the Chinese market.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu reports from Beijing.

Metacrine To Debut On Nasdaq Tomorrow

San Diego, California-based Metacrine is scheduled to go public on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “MTCR” on September 16, 2020.

Founded in 2014, Metacrine is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and gastrointestinal (GI) diseases.

The company has offered to sell 6.54 million shares of common stock in the offering at an expected price range of between $12.00 and $14.00 per share, and the underwriters have an option for 30 days to purchase up to 981 thousand additional shares.

Underwriters of the IPO:

Jefferies LLC, Evercore Group L.L.C., RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Canaccord Genuity LLC

Pipeline:

The company has two drug candidates namely MET409 and MET642.

— MET409 has been studied in a phase I trial as a monotherapy and in combination with an antidiabetic agent in the treatment of NASH.

— MET642 is currently in a phase I clinical trial as a monotherapy for the treatment of NASH.

Near-term Catalysts:

— The full data from phase I trial of MT642 in NASH is expected in Q4, 2020.

— Initiation of a phase IIa combination trial of MET409 in NASH is expected in the first half of 2021.

— Initiation of a phase IIa monotherapy trial of MT642 in NASH is expected in the first half of 2021.

Auditor EY Express ‘Regret’ Over Failures After Wirecard Collapse

In this article

The collapse of Wirecard AG prompted accounting firm Ernst & Young to send a letter to clients expressing “regret” that it failed to uncover fraud at the company sooner.

EY Chairman Carmine Di Sibio told clients that the firm was attempting to “raise the bar” to improve its standards.

The accounting firm has faced widespread criticism over its failure to properly scrutinize Wirecard’s accounts over several years. The payment processor filed for bankruptcy in June after acknowledging that 1.9 billion euros ($2.26 billion) it had listed as assets probably didn’t exist.

“While we were successful in uncovering the fraud at Wirecard, we regret that it was not uncovered sooner,” according to an extract of the letter provided by EY. “A key part of our commitment to quality is a policy of continuous improvement.”

The Financial Times was first to report the letter to clients. EY confirmed the report in a statement.