Troubling new variant

There’s a new variant of the coronavirus that’s been identified in South Africa, and it’s causing some alarm. Scientists are still analyzing the new strain, but it has many more mutations than previous versions of the deadly pathogen. With much of the world still unvaccinated, health experts are worried their fears may soon be realized—that the virus will evolve into ever-more transmissible, possibly more dangerous forms that could circumvent existing shots. Concern that the new strain could fuel more outbreaks, even as a new infection wave is already gathering steam across the globe, has prompted nations including the U.S. to quickly block travelers from southern Africa countries, though the variant has already been found elsewhere. Here’s how stocks took a dive on the news, the latest on the new strain and the pandemic. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

Chinese regulators have asked Didi Global’s top executives to devise a plan to delist from U.S. exchanges, an unprecedented request that’s likely to revive fears about Beijing’s intentions for its giant tech industry.

China food-delivery giant Meituan reported its biggest loss in three years, thanks in part to a bruising antitrust probe, an investment spurt and mounting competition from Alibaba Group.

Vladimir Putin very much wants the U.S. to pay attention to him, and his current massing of troops on Ukraine’s border (as he did earlier this year) is just part of it. Those close to the Kremlin say the Russian president doesn’t want to start his second war on Ukraine in just seven years, while Kyiv alleges he’s plotting a coup. Hardliners are pushing Putin to show his teeth in the face of what they see as democratic nations under the banner of NATO pushing further into the former Soviet Union’s sphere of influence.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, faced with the biggest surge in consumer prices in three decades, is pointing to signs that supply-chain pressures are easing as it seeks to persuade voters that inflation will drop back to more normal levels next year. While economists largely agree with the White House, U.S. companies have yet to climb aboard.

A cloud data service provider partly owned by an Indonesian tycoon has delivered the world’s best-performing initial public offering this year, jumping more than 100 fold since its share float in January.

For the past decade, one part of the China-Taiwan relationship has held together as the rest disintegrated: business. People on both sides continued to work behind the scenes to make money and even acted as a backchannel for politicians. Now, Tim Culpan writes in Bloomberg Opinion, it appears even that connection is being severed by China.

Richard Metzler ordered automation equipment as part of a plan to double the volume his small parcel delivery company, Lone Star Overnight, could handle this holiday season. There’s just one snag: The machinery is stuck on a ship offshore. Retailers have increasingly turned to regional couriers like LSO to help shuffle packages that United Parcel Service and FedEx can’t or won’t. This holiday season is going to depend more than ever on operators taking on business the two dominant couriers are shunning. It’s just unclear if the smaller players are ready.

On Tuesday morning, Amazon began selling some PlayStation 5s. They were gone within a few minutes—and that was slower than usual. In a rare, maybe unprecedented run of popularity, the latest version of Sony’s gaming console is poised to be the hottest holiday gift for consecutive Christmases. The streak has been fueled in part by how hard it is to find.

Like getting the Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters.

Bloomberg Technology Summit: For companies, the Covid-19 landscape has presented both opportunities and pitfalls. Regulators and lawmakers who once adopted a hands-off policy toward tech are now closely scrutinizing every move in Seattle and Silicon Valley. Join us Dec. 14-15 as we explore the new technological challenges raised by the pandemic, and their consequences for business. Register here.