Analysis: As EU preps debut recovery bond, a reality check for “safe asset” hopes

As the European Union readies bond sales for its pioneering COVID-19 recovery fund, the scale and duration of the borrowing programme may disappoint those who had visualised last year’s deal for pooled debt as Europe’s Hamiltonian moment.
EXCLUSIVE ECB tells Deutsche Bank to find new chairman fast – sources

The European Central Bank has asked Deutsche Bank a number of times in recent months to name a successor to chairman Paul Achleitner as the end of his term nears, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
UK recovery quickens in April as economy posts record annual jump

Britain’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic sped up in April as lockdown measures eased, with the fastest monthly growth since July leaving output a record 27.6% higher than a year earlier, when the virus was rampant and lockdown tightest.
More Chinese provinces issue bans on cryptomining

Authorities in China’s northwestern province of Qinghai and a district in neighbouring Xinjiang ordered cryptocurrency mining projects to close this week, as local governments put into practice Beijing’s call to crack down on the industry.
SoftBank’s PayPay surges ahead in Japan’s digital payments race

For six decades, shoppers at Mikawaya, a rice dealer in eastern Tokyo, paid in cash – until sales staff from payments app PayPay swept through the low-lying district, persuading the store to give their product a try.
Archer’s flying taxi makes splashy debut in heated market

Archer Aviation unveiled its first electric flying taxi “Maker” in a Tesla-style debut on Thursday as an increasing number of investors and aviation companies pile into the hot but yet-to-be-approved urban air mobility space.
GameStop falls 27% on potential share sale, other ‘meme stocks’ falter

Shares of GameStop Corp (GME.N) lost more than a quarter of their value on Thursday and other so-called meme stocks also declined in a sell-off that hit a broad range of names favored by retail investors.
Dollar marooned as investors shrug off inflation spike

After a week of anxious waiting, markets got the high U.S. inflation number they dreaded, shrugged it off and moved on – leaving the U.S. dollar under pressure and most majors stuck in ranges.
U.S. trade czar Tai says upbeat on prospects for ‘intense’ trade talks with EU

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Thursday she will accompany President Joe Biden to Brussels next week for “intense negotiations” to try to resolve trade disputes over aircraft subsidies and steel and aluminum.
Analysis: G7 global tax plan may hit corporate titans unevenly

An agreement by wealthy nations aimed at squeezing more tax out of large multinational companies could hit some firms hard while leaving others – including some of the most frequent targets of lawmakers’ ire – relatively unscathed, according to a Reuters analysis.