EMEA Morning Briefing : Stocks Set to Fall After -2-

Medical-technology companies are buying more startups as the industry recovers from disruptions to healthcare procedures triggered by the global pandemic last year.

Fourteen venture-backed medical-device companies were acquired in the first half of 2021, nearly as many as the 16 that were sold in all of 2020, according to global data from Silicon Valley Bank.

Climate-Conscious Banks Stick With Distressed Polluters

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have lofty environmental goals but find themselves stuck in bets on two less-than-green energy companies.

The banks are confronting the need to protect investments in troubled energy companies while also living up to commitments to sustainability in their environmental, social and governance policies.

China Tech Stocks Rebound, but Investors Remain Cautious

Chinese technology shares recouped some of their recent steep losses Thursday, after the country's authorities swung into damage-control mode, but investors remain wary about how heightened regulatory pressure might crimp future corporate profits.

On Wednesday, Chinese state media talked up local stocks, while a top regulator privately told global financial firms that Beijing will consider the market impact before introducing future policies, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bayer Plans for Roundup Litigation Claims Rising by $4.5 Billion

Bayer AG sees expenses from lawsuits accusing its Roundup weedkiller of causing cancer potentially rising by $4.5 billion-significantly more than it had previously planned for.

The company will set aside the additional funds to cover Roundup claims in its next quarterly financial report, Bayer executives said Thursday. The new provisions would raise Bayer's funds earmarked for the claims to more than $16 billion from the $11.6 billion the company had previously said it would pay to resolve the cases.

EU Overtakes U.S. in Covid-19 Vaccines as Delta Variant Spreads

MILAN-The European Union passed the U.S. in Covid-19 vaccinations, with the continent inoculating people at a sustained pace and America struggling to persuade vaccine holdouts to get a shot to slow the spread of the Delta variant.

The EU has given at least one vaccine shot to 259 million people, or 58.3% of the total population of its 27 member countries as of Thursday, according to figures compiled by Our World in Data, an Oxford University project tracking the global vaccine rollout. The U.S. has reached 56.7% of its population, equivalent to 189 million people.

U.K. Shop Vacancies Rise for Third Consecutive Year

The second quarter marked the third year in a row of increasing vacancy rates at U.K. shops and this trend is set to continue, according to the latest report by Local Data Company and the British Retail Consortium.

Perpetuating a trend started in the first quarter of 2018, the vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2021 rose to 14.5% from 14.1% in the first quarter of the year, the report found. This means that one in seven British shops is unoccupied.

Israel to Offer Pfizer Booster Shots to Elderly as Delta Cases Rise

TEL AVIV-Israel authorized the use of a booster shot of Pfizer Inc.'s Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 60 and over starting Sunday, after early data in the country suggested vaccine protection against severe illness has waned.

Healthcare providers said Thursday a third dose would be offered to those in that age group at least five months after their second shot.

FDA Lets Pharmacies Substitute Branded Insulin With Knockoff Product, in First for a Biologic Drug

For the first time, U.S. regulators have said that a knockoff version of a biologic drug is interchangeable with its branded equivalent, a milestone in the yearslong effort to bring greater competition to the market for expensive biologic drugs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said the biosimilar insulin product Semglee is interchangeable with Sanofi SA's Lantus, a designation that allows pharmacists to automatically substitute Semglee for prescriptions for Lantus, one of the top-selling insulins in the world.

Tunisia, Sole Survivor of Arab Spring, Risks Sliding Back to Autocratic Rule

Tunisia, the country whose protest movement promised to transform the Middle East a decade ago, is in turmoil after its president suspended parliament and seized executive power this week, stirring concerns that the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings is slipping back to autocracy.

The crisis is threatening to strike a blow against democratic aspirations across the region, and while many Tunisians support the removal of an unpopular government, others fear the country could lose its status as North Africa's sole exemplar of democracy after street rallies overthrew a dictator in 2011. Egypt's brief period of democracy ended in a military coup in 2013. Libya, Syria, and Yemen plunged into war.

China Telecom Plans Shanghai Listing

China Telecom Corp. is moving to sell billions of dollars worth of shares in Shanghai as the telecom carrier turns to its home market for funds.

The company said in a prospectus Friday that it will issue up to 10.40 billion shares. That implies a deal size of nearly US$4.16 billion based on the stock's closing price in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Robinhood's Stock Price Falls After IPO

Robinhood Markets Inc., the trading app synonymous with hot stocks, got a cold reception from investors in its own stock-market debut.

The investing app tumbled in its highly anticipated trading debut Thursday, closing 8.4% below its initial public offering price. Robinhood stock opened at $38, matching the IPO price, and quickly fell more than 10%. The stock later climbed to approach the IPO price before falling again in the final hour of trading to close at $34.82.

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Expected Major Events for Friday

04:30/NED: Jun PPI

04:30/NED: Jun Retail turnover

05:30/FRA: Jun Household consumption expenditure in manufactured goods

05:30/FRA: 2Q GDP - first estimate

06:00/DEN: Jun Unemployment

06:45/FRA: Jul Provisional CPI

07:00/SPN: Jun Retail Sales

07:00/TUR: Jun Foreign Trade

07:00/SWI: Jul KOF economic barometer

07:00/AUT: 2Q Flash Estimate GDP

07:00/ITA: Jun Unemployment

07:00/SPN: 2Q Preliminary GDP

07:00/CZE: 2Q GDP preliminary estimate

08:00/BUL: Jun PPI

08:00/GER: 2Q GDP - 1st release

08:00/ITA: 2Q GDP preliminary estimate

08:30/UK: 2Q Insolvency statistics

08:30/POR: 2Q Flash Estimate GDP

09:00/GRE: Jun PPI

09:00/CRO: Jun Retail trade

09:00/EU: Jun Unemployment

09:00/CYP: Jun PPI

09:00/GRE: May Turnover Index in Retail Trade

09:00/EU: Jul Flash Estimate euro area inflation

09:00/EU: 2Q Preliminary Flash Estimate GDP

09:00/ITA: Jul Cities CPI

09:00/ITA: Jul Provisional CPI

16:59/SPN: Jun Budget deficit

16:59/BEL: Jun PPI

16:59/SPN: May Monthly Balance of Payments

All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-30-21 0017ET