Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Covid rises in the South

Exxon Mobil is preparing to cut U.S. office staff by 5% and 10% annually for the next three to five years. The plan is separate from the fossil fuel giant’s announcement last year that it will slash 14,000 jobs worldwide by 2022. Under constant pressure tied to the climate crisis and Big Oil’s leading role in it, Exxon is still reeling from the fallout of last month’s annual meeting when shareholders rebuffed management and replaced a quarter of the company’s board over climate and financial concerns. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic worldwide. 

Here are today’s top stories  

In the U.S., a new coronavirus wave may be forming in poorly vaccinated southern states, with more young people ending up in hospitals. The data present the clearest sign of a rebound as the highly contagious and more dangerous delta variant spreads across the country. In Hong Kong, authorities will shorten mandatory hotel quarantines to seven days for fully vaccinated people traveling from all but a handful of high-risk places, in a significant easing of some of the world’s strictest border curbs. But in Indonesia, total cases reached 2 million with hospitals starting to fill up as the delta variant rages. Here’s the latest on the pandemic.

The Federal Reserve’s policy outlook needs to be more attuned to inflation risks, some very big names are saying. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said he favors starting the process of tapering the central bank’s ongoing bond purchases “sooner rather than later.”

Still, stocks notched their biggest rally in five weeks as speculation the  Fed will tighten policy at a gradual pace outweighed concern over its hawkish pivot. Here’s your markets wrap.

Four of HSBC’s most senior bankers in the U.S. are leaving the investment bank as part of an overhaul of its New York division. The bank is revamping its American operations to focus on Asian clients and those seeking to invest there.

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for education-related compensation for student-athletes, such as tutors and paid internships, in a decision that may loosen the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s grip on college sports. A separate opinion by Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh was especially bad news for the NCAA’s attempts to preserve its multibillion-dollar business model.

Supermarket prices are rising, and restaurants are reopening. But Americans keep stocking up on groceries. It seems that longer-term fallout from the pandemic may include some very well-stocked larders.

For almost three decades, Michael Larson has quietly shuffled around one of the world’s biggest fortunes with a chief priority: Keep his fabulously wealthy bosses out of the headlines. The conservative bets, the nondescript office, the investment firm’s generic-sounding name; they were all carefully designed to shield them from criticism and produce steady if seemingly unimpressive returns. Then the clients, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, announced a divorce, and all hell broke loose.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow 

• Bloomberg CityLab: Why a dark future requires urban leadership.
• Want reassurance? Look at these economic charts from World War II.
• Businessweek: New York is making it tougher to fire employees.
• Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, cash frozen by authorities, may shutdown.
• WHO scientist said Covid-19 booster shots may not be needed.
• Victoria’s Secret is rethinking “sexy” with profits front-of-mind.
• Co-ops? Forget it. Manhattan luxury buyers are scooping up condos.

Landmark Paris Store Reopens, Sans Tourists

La Samaritaine, a landmark Paris department store dating to 1870, is reopening following a 16-year closure. Luxury group LVMH carried out a 750 million-euro ($894 million) renovation and originally intended to reopen last April. On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron joined in inaugurating the revamped store, but some of its biggest shoppers may be hard to find.

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