| Xi mobilizes China for a tech revolution. Single virus shot slashes hospitalizations. Australia is running out of cows. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today. China's Xi Jinping is set to unveil plans for the nation's technological rise, in a bid to be less reliant on the West. Xi wants to to cut dependence for crucial components like computer chips while also making big bets on emerging technologies from hydrogen vehicles to biotech. The push to mobilize trillions of dollars could help China surpass the U.S. as the world's biggest economy this decade. But Xi's not the only one concentrating on tech. The Biden administration is looking to rally an alliance of nations fighting for an edge in semiconductor fabrication, quantum computing and next-gen networks, in a bid to stand up to China and other "techno-autocracies." Read more about how the U.S. and China are already fighting for 6G supremacy. A global equity rally is set to extend in Asia after investors shook off concerns about the impact of higher bond yields. Benchmark Treasuries retreated. Futures pointed to a stronger open in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. In a broad-based rally, the S&P 500 notched its biggest advance in almost nine months and the Nasdaq Composite jumped almost 3%. Longer-dated Treasuries resumed their selloff even as shorter-term maturities found support. The dollar dipped against most major peers. Oil declined ahead of a key OPEC+ meeting this week that may return more supply back to the market. A single shot of Pfizer or AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine can cut hospitalizations among older people by around 80%, according to a new study. The report from Public Health England also found that one vaccine shot reduces the chance of people aged over 70 becoming ill by some 60%. Meanwhile the New York Covid-19 variant has been detected in the U.S. more than 700 times. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also closely watching strains from the U.K., South Africa, Brazil and California. Globally, more than 245 million vaccine doses have now been given. See the breakdown here. South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is seeking to raise as much as $3.6 billion from an initial public offering in New York, which will rank as one of the largest-ever Asian listings in the U.S. Seoul-based Coupang and some existing shareholders are offering 120 million shares at $27 to $30 each, according to a filing. At the top end of the range, Coupang will be valued at as much as $51 billion based on the number of shares outstanding. A successful IPO would be another windfall for billionaire Masayoshi Son's SoftBank. In what would be a blow to steak lovers the world over, Australian beef may slip off global menus if cattle producers Down Under can't hasten the pace of a nationwide herd rebuild. Herd sizes are near the lowest since the early 1990s, as some farmers continue to send female cattle to the slaughterhouse for a more immediate payday, instead of keeping them to expand their stock. Though Australia accounts for only 4% of global beef production, the country is one of the world's largest shippers, with major markets in China, Japan and South Korea. What We've Been ReadingThis is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours: And finally, here's what Cormac's interested in todayLast week's global bond selloff was an unequal one, creating relative winners and losers on either side of investors' inflation expectations. As noted by Citigroup, the spread between benchmark U.S. Treasury yields and a basket of bonds from countries that traditionally suffer from low inflation — such as Germany, Japan and Switzerland — is widening, while it is narrowing for a more reflationary cohort including Australia, Canada and New Zealand. That will not have gone unnoticed by currency traders, as it suggests investors have moved on from expectations for the return of a nebulous "global" inflation and are becoming more discriminating on a country and regional basis.  Given Europe and Japan's past struggles with disinflation and sometimes outright deflation, that could mean extra headwinds for the euro and the yen, should the trend continue. It could also give an extra fillip to the Aussie dollar and the kiwi. And together with President Joe Biden's soon-to-be approved stimulus bill, with the bulk of the earmarked $1.9 trillion in proposals likely to stay intact, it could also give some support to the beleaguered U.S. dollar. Cormac Mullen is a Cross-Asset reporter and editor for Bloomberg News in Tokyo. | 
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