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Good morning. UEFA fights back, Laschet fights on and blood clot worries rise over J&J's vaccine. Here's what's moving markets.

J&J Vaccine Worries

U.S. drug maker Emergent BioSolutions was told by regulators to stop producing Johnson & Johnson's vaccine at a plant where 15 million doses worth of a key ingredient had to be discarded, adding to roadblocks preventing wider use of the single-dose shot. Use of J&J's vaccine has been paused in the U.S. since last week as health officials probe a possible link to life-threatening blood clots. Greece has suspended its roll-out of the shot just as first doses are reaching Europe. Meanwhile, the EU exercised its option for a further 100 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid vaccine, boosting its order from the companies to 600 million doses. 

UEFA's Defense

The umbrella organization for European soccer won't let its Champions League tournament go down without a fight. UEFA is in talks with Centricus Asset Management over a 6 billion-euro financing package to overhaul its flagship soccer tournament and stop plans for a new breakaway Super League, according to people familiar with the matter. UEFA has branded the breakaway proposal a "spit in the face" for soccer supporters, vowing to take all measures necessary—from turning to the courts to banning teams and players from international soccer tournaments—to stop the move.

Long Grind

The fight to succeed Angela Merkel as the German conservatives' candidate for chancellor is dragging on, after a vote among party leaders breathed fresh life into the campaign of Armin Laschet. The head of the CDU won the backing of 31 out of 46 members of his party's top committee, according to a person familiar with the outcome. His rival, Bavarian State Premier Markus Soeder, won just nine votes with six abstentions, a result that may give 60-year-old Laschet the edge in their contest. While Laschet has lost significant support since the committee gave him unanimous backing a week ago, Soeder said yesterday that he would accept a clear CDU vote in favor of Laschet.

Tesla's Troubles

Just as Tesla CEO Elon Musk defended his company after a deadly Texas crash where he said no autopilot was enabled, media reported that police will serve search warrants on Tesla to secure data on the incident. The knocks kept coming elsewhere, with the carmaker singled out in a piece from China's state-run Xinhua news agency that said the quality of its vehicles must meet market expectations in order to win consumers' trust, citing brake failure and fire risks. Yesterday, it had an embarrassing moment at the Shanghai Auto Show when an angry protester climbed on top of one of its display vehicles shouting that her car's brakes had lost control.

Coming Up…

European stocks were set to track Asian markets lower, after U.S. equities fell from their all-time peaks. The U.K. reports unemployment figures, and Associated British Foods is among firms reporting earnings. It's a tech-heavy day in the U.S. where Apple will unveil its first new products this year and Netflix reports earnings, with the streaming giant expected to struggle to top its record from a year ago. Also in the U.S., Abbott Laboratories, P&G, Philip Morris and Lockheed Martin are among the bluechips set to report, along with Johnson & Johnson whose Covid-19 vaccine is still being scrutinized by regulators. And today has been termed "Dogeday" by Dogecoin fans, with the meme-themed cryptocurrency continuing to gain throughout the day.

What We've Been Reading

This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours. 

And finally, here's what Cormac Mullen is interested in this morning

Currency contrarians are close to being on the receiving end of a massive "I told you so" from dollar bears. This year's rally in the U.S. currency -- in the face of a near-consensus call for dollar weakness -- is close to being snuffed out. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has fallen over 2% from its late-March high and is at risk of falling out of the uptrend in place since early January. The contrarians are still in with a shot though. The recent dollar weakness has tracked the surprise retreat in U.S. yields, which as discussed previously looks more technical than fundamental. A rebound higher in Treasury yields and a re-ignition of the reflation trade would likely give the greenback a fresh boost too. The narrative that justified a dollar rebound -- at least a short-term one -- remains intact with U.S. economic data continuing to surprise on the upside and vaccinations continuing apace. And there are enough geopolitical concerns that could yet trigger a renewed interest in haven assets. The dollar rally isn't dead yet but it is on life support.

Cormac Mullen is a cross-asset reporter and editor for Bloomberg News in Tokyo.

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