Global Business Daily: Trump test hits markets, Asda bought for $8.7bn

text

"I would like to use this opportunity to wish President Donald Trump and his wife Melania a very full and speedy recovery as quickly as possible from COVID-19."

That was German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Brussels this morning, as the inevitable questions came following the news the U.S. leader (and his wife, and his adviser) had contracted the virus.

As may be expected, the U.S. markets did not take the news well and futures and Treasury bond yields took a tumble. But it's not expected to last and was seen by some as a flash-in-the-pan reaction rather than full-bodied retreat.

In the ** English Premier League** , the beleaguered football club Newcastle United has again started talks with a potential new owner, after an earlier bid by the Saudi investment fund fell through. The Singaporean firm interested in the deal is involved in luxury sales and the fashion industry.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank has issued a new report on the importance of digital currency - and its president, Christine Lagarde, said the EU bank needs to prepare for when a digital euro is needed.

Finally – Is it a bird, is it a plane...? No. It's a ** paramedic in a jetpack** . Yes, seriously. Watch today's video to find out more… I hope you're sitting comfortably, now let's begin.

Happy reading,

Patrick Atack

Digital business correspondent

**P.S. Did someone forward this to you? **

Sign up here

Asda, one of the largest UK supermarket chains

, has returned to British majority ownership

after Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital bought the group from Walmart for $8.7 billion . The billionaire brothers from Blackburn already own EG Group, which controlsgas stations across the country.

The

U.S. markets have reacted quickly to the news that President Trump, his wife Melania, and several staff members have tested positive for COVID-19

. U.S. stock futures fell on the news and Treasury yields dipped. "It will weigh on the market today and early next week but will not induce a long-lasting correction if the infection is contained to Trump ," Francois Savary, chief investment officer at Swiss wealth manager Prime Partners, said.

Newcastle United, the football club that looked as it would be taken over by a Saudi group until the deal fell through, has now attracted the interest of Singaporean fashion and luxury group Bellagraph Nova . Co-founder Evangeline Shen said Bellagraph was "very aggressive on trying to close the deal."

EU leaders have met for a summit in Brussels, where a view on Turkish exploration of the Mediterranean was agreed, along with

sanctions on Belarusian officials

.

After the summit, the week's work was not done for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said **she will call UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday **to urge intensification of trade deal talks. The negotiations taking place this week were "constructive," according to the UK side, though state aid rules remain a hurdle.

Chinese manufacturing exports are recovering at a better rate than some expected after the COVID-19 outbreak in the country – and

one reason is the success of Trump campaign merchandise

, such as the famous MAGA (Make America Great Again) caps . Wang Fuli, a hat merchant in Yiwu told the Financial Times

a third of her sales since April have been linked to the Trump campaign.

The European Central Bank has begun a public consultation on the advent of a digital European currency, with a 50-page report that explains the steps to stay ahead of changes in a rapidly modernizing bloc. "We should be prepared to issue a digital euro, should the need arise," said ECB President Christine Lagarde.

Meanwhile, economists have forecast an expanded bond-buying scheme in December, when the ECB will publish its view of the year ahead for the currency union. The regulator is under pressure as new figures revealed a second consecutive month of deflation.

Japanese car maker **Honda has announced it will stop its involvement in F1 motor racing at the end of the 2021 **season. CEO Takahiro Hachigo said it was not about short-term bottom lines, despite two quarters of losses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, but was part of a wider pivot to electric engines and other sustainable transport options.

Nearly 20,000 workers at Amazon or its food store Whole Foods have tested positive for COVID-19 since March , according to the web commerce giant. the group has nearly 1.5 million staff in the U.S. alone and the company said the number was lower than expected. Staff have petitioned the firm to improve its working conditions since the beginning of the outbreak and, crucially, the count does not include delivery drivers, who are classed as contractors.

Playboy Enterprises, the former adult magazine publisher which now focuses on clothing and licencing its famous "bunny" logo, is merging with Mountain Crest and will list on the stock market – nine years after it was made private by then owner Hugh Hefner. The Hefner estate and family sold its 35 percent stake in the firm after the founder's death.

Founder of sports nutrition firm ** Maximuscle, Zef Eisenberg, has died aged 47 after a crash during a land speed record attempt** . Eisenberg was behind the Madmax Race Team, which focused on car and motorcycle speed records.

WATCH : It's causing a buzz and could be flying to a rescue near you soon!

01:40

Dame DeAnne Julius is a former CIA economic analyst, a fellow at Chatham House, and a founding member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee. She spoke to CGTN Europe from her home in the UK about the likelihood of a breakthrough in EU-UK Brexit talks.

Are we looking at an 11th-hour deal? Or is any progress at all likely?

The pace is picking up as we get near the deadlines and I think we will see some progress. I think the EU has come to recognize that Britain really is serious about going the no-deal route.

Commentators are suggesting we're heading towards what they call a “skinny deal”. What does that mean?

A skinny deal probably means no tariffs and no quotas on industrial goods, which would certainly be worth having, but probably not much decided on agricultural goods.

So will we then be in for even more talks?

Well, I think there will be additional negotiations. But they'll be a little bit easier because they will be sector-by-sector. And in terms of financial services, a huge amount seems to have already been agreed between the regulators on the two sides.

**Today, one of the UK's largest **

police departments admitted it had been the victim of a possible data breach

, which gives us a great excuse to ask how prepared the business world is for such an incident.