European Economics Preview: UK Public Sector Finance, Retail Sales Data Due

Public sector finances and retail sales from the UK are due on Friday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK public sector borrowing and retail sales data. The budget deficit is seen widening to GBP 17.5 billion from GBP 11.8 billion in August. Retail sales are forecast to fall 0.5 percent on month in September, slower than the 1.6 percent decrease a month ago.

At 4.00 am ET, retail sales from Poland and current account from Greece are due. Economists forecast Poland retail sales to grow 21.5 percent annually in September following a 21.5 percent rise in August.

At 6.00 am ET, foreign trade and wholesale prices are due from Ireland.

At 10.00 am ET, the European Commission is set to issue flash consumer confidence survey data for October. Economists forecast the euro area sentiment index to fall to -30.0 from -28.8 in September.

Pfizer Likely To Hike U.S. COVID Vaccine Price

Pfizer Inc. expects to increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine after the United States government’s current purchase program expires, Reuters reported citing Pfizer executive Angela Lukin.

The drug major is likely to quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to about $110 to $130 per dose.

Meanwhile, for people who have private insurance or government paid insurance, vaccine will be made available free of cost.

At present, the U.S. government provides free vaccine to all, and pays around $30 per dose to Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE. Once the U.S. public health emergency expires, the Covid vaccine market is expected to move to private insurance.

As per the report, vaccine makers including Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna Inc and Novavax Inc are likely to increase price for vaccines due to weak demand for COVID vaccines. As many in the country are delaying or skipping new booster shots, these companies will be forced to raise price to meet revenue forecasts for 2023 and beyond.

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Tenet Healthcare Falls On Disappointing Earnings And Outlook

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) shares are falling more than 28 percent on Friday morning trade after the company announced a reduction in third-quarter earnings, yet that beat estimates. Revenue for the quarter declined from the previous year. For the fourth quarter and the full year, the company’s projections are below the estimates.

The company reported third-quarter earnings of $131 million or $1.16 per share, down from $448 million or $4.12 per share a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter was $4.80 billion compared to $4.89 billion in the same quarter last year.

For the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings in a range of $1-$1.54 per share, while analysts are looking for $1.67 per share.

For the full year, the medical care facilities provider earnings in the range of $5.88-$6.42 per share, while the Street projection is for $6.46 per share.

The company expects full-year revenue in a range of $19-$19.20 billion and analysts are looking for 19.37 billion.

U.S. Reports 63K New Covid Cases, 685 Deaths

The United States on Thursday reported 63,926 new coronavirus cases, taking the national total to 96,911,305.

685 additional Covid deaths on the same day took the national total to 1,064,798, as per Johns Hopkins University’s latest data.

California led in the number of new infections – 21,370 – and deaths – 134.

U.S. hospitals have reported a 7 percent decrease in the number of Covid patients in the last two weeks. The number of I.C.U. admissions due to the worse stage of the viral disease has also fallen by 10 percent.

U.S. Covid hospitalizations fell to 26,655. 3,113 of these patients are admitted in intensive care units.

The nation’s current test positivity rate is 8.8 percent.

As per the latest data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 226,200,755 Americans, or 68.1 percent of the eligible population, have been administered both doses of Covid vaccine so far. This includes 92.6 percent of people above 65.

49 percent of the eligible population, or 110,835,775 people, have already received a booster dose that is recommended to provide additional protection from the killer virus.

39 percent of the eligible population, or 25,623,483 people, have taken a second booster dose.

2,484 additional deaths were reported globally on Thursday, taking the total number of people who have lost their lives due to the pandemic so far to 6,565,111.

U.S. Business Inventories Climb Slightly Less Than Expected In August

Business inventories in the U.S. increased by slightly less than expected in the month of August, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Friday.

The Commerce Department said business inventories climbed by 0.8 percent in August after rising by a revised 0.5 percent in July.

Economists had expected business inventories to advance by 0.9 percent compared to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

The report showed retail and wholesale inventories both jumped by 1.3 percent, while manufacturing inventories edged down by 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said business sales rose by 0.3 percent in August after slumping by 1.0 percent in July.

Manufacturing sales increased by 0.5 percent, while retail and wholesale sales inched up by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

With inventories rising by more than sales, the total business inventories/sales ratio crept up to 1.33 in August from 1.32 in July.

Select Medical Holdings Down 10%

Shares of Select Medical Holdings Corp. (SEM) are declining more than 10 percent on Friday morning, continuing a bearish trend. There were no corporate announcements on the day to impact the stock movement.

Currently, shares are at $21.11, down 10.51 percent from the previous close of $23.59 on a volume of 546,465.