Lockdown deadline looms; commodity prices surging; babies booming

A covid-19 testing station in Otara. Aucklanders will find out today if they will come out of lockdown.

Wed, 17 Feb 2021

TLDR: Morena. Watch out for Cabinet’s decision on whether to extend or end the lockdown at 4.30pm. Meanwhile, the government looks behind the curve on the lack of daily saliva testing at the border and is also considering mandating the use of the Covid Tracer app.Overnight, commodity prices such as oil and copper are surging again, thanks to a nasty ice storm hitting Texas and the global economic rebound on vaccination hopes. Dairy prices rose 3.0 percent in Global Dairy Trade’s fortnightly auction overnight to highs not seen since...

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