The Federal Reserve is ending a pandemic policy giving a big capital break to Wall Street banks. In response to Covid-19, the Fed allowed lenders to load up on Treasuries and deposits without setting aside capital to protect against losses. In a last ditch effort to keep the policy in place, the financial industry protested that the U.S. economy is too fragile to shift gears. But Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out that banks didn’t need the support in the first place, since they managed to rake in billions of dollars in 2020. For its part, the Fed said it’ll look at other ways to address Wall Street’s concerns. Here’s your markets wrap. —Margaret Sutherlin

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic globally and across America. 

Here are today’s top stories  

U.S. President Joe Biden condemned racially motivated attacks on Asian Americans in a speech delivered in Atlanta just days after the shooting death of eight people. A White man has been charged in the killings. The victims, which included six women of Asian descent, have raised nationwide alarm about an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans. Bloomberg CityLab reports how Anti-Asian racism has been fanned during the pandemic by certain U.S. politicians, especially former President Donald Trump, who often uses anti-Chinese rhetoric, phrases and slurs to characterize the coronavirus and its origins. 

European leaders are digging in to slow a virus resurgence. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany will accelerate its inoculation drive, seeking to recover from the temporary halt of AstraZeneca’s shot over blood-clot concerns, and may be forced to move back toward lockdowns. France, one of the earliest critics of the shot, did a 180-degree turn and cleared it for use by the middle-aged and elderly. The U.S. meanwhile offered updated guidance to schools, saying kids only need to be socially distanced by 3-feet, which could hasten the return to in-person learning. Medical experts fear however that high infection rates, variants and loosened restrictions may set America on the path to a fourth wave. In Asia, Hong Kong opened vaccinations to adults over 30 and 15,700 people got a Pfizer-BioNTech shot on the first day. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

The U.S. now says children only need to be socially distanced by three feet.

Photographer: Jon Cherry/Getty Images

The first face-to-face meeting between the U.S. and China officials since Biden took office was bound to be confrontational, and it didn’t disappoint. Diplomats traded charges of interference and human rights abuses in fiery, public complaints. The question now is whether the two sides can find ways to cooperate even a little.  

The endowments of all 101 historically black U.S. colleges total only $3.4 billion. That’s less than the poorest Ivy League school. Long neglected by its state, Prairie View A&M, under the leadership of Ruth Simmons, is using the current moment (and her connections) to fuel a renaissance.

Ruth Simmons

Photographer: Brandon Thibodeaux/Bloomberg

Bankrupt OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma could be staring down legal claims totaling more than $40 trillion—that’s about double the U.S. GDP in 2020. The number, outlined in court papers, reflects the number of individuals, states and cities looking to cope with the impact of the opioid epidemic that they blame in part on the pharmaceutical giant. 

Used in everything from wiring and pipes to batteries and motors, copper is both an economic bellwether and a key ingredient in the push toward renewable power and electric vehicles. That’s why so many are alarmed at a potential shortfall that could cost producers $100 billion annually.

Copper cathode sheets at the KGHM Polska Miedz SA copper smelting plant in Glogow, Poland.

Photographer: Bartek Sadowski/Bloomberg

Investors aren’t clamoring to buy offices and hotels right now, but in virtual reality, property deals are surging and attracting millions of real-life dollars. It was inevitable then that someone would start a fund. 

What you’ll need to know tomorrow 

• The number of banks lending to house flippers doubled in 2 months.
• Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all experienced outages Friday.
• Thousands of Hong Kong residents have applied for U.K. visas.
• The fight to unionize Amazon workers in Alabama is catching on.
• Bloomberg Opinion: Why do some rich families feel middle class?​
• U.S. Supreme Court justices met in person for the first time in a year.​​​​​
• Finland is the happiest country in the world—again. 

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What you’ll want to read in Businessweek

Behind Citigroup’s Major Back Office Blunder

Fat-finger errors can happen at the biggest financial companies. But Citigroup’s recent human error is going down as the stuff of legend. The bank mistakenly paid Revlon creditors $900 million. The error has forced it to restate fourth-quarter earnings and do lot of explaining to regulators. And the bank could ultimately be out more than $500 million. Here’s the inside story of how it went down. 

Photo Illustration: 731; Photos: Getty/Alamy

Photo Illustration: 731; Photos: Getty/Alamy

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 Bloomberg New Economy Conversations with Andrew Browne: Big Pharma joined with governments to deliver coronavirus shots in record time. The successful moonshot could spur future research into other affordable drugs to treat global diseases. Join us March 23 at 10 a.m. ET when Katalin Karikó, senior vice president of Covid vaccine pioneer BioNTech, and others discuss Vaccine Miracles and the New Promise of Science. Register here.

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