SQUAWK BOX, THURSDAY 25TH FEBRUARY, 2021

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell allays U.S. inflation concerns in his testimony to the House, causing Asian markets to jump and Wall Street to pare back losses in another intra-day comeback. Berkshire Hathaway’s vice-chairman Charlie Munger slams “this new bunch of gamblers”, criticising SPACs, Tesla and cryptocurrencies for the increasingly frenzied speculation in the markets. This, as GameStop surges 100 percent in 90 minutes. Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered posts a full-year miss with a 57 per cent fall in profits and a doubling in impairment costs. In the U.S., Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccination is due for FDA approval. Its dose reportedly offers an average efficacy rate of 66 per cent and near-total protection against hospitalisation and Covid-related fatalities.