Russia announced on Saturday, August 15, 2020, that it has produced the first batch of its newly approved vaccine, Sputnik V, hours after the health ministry reported the start of its production.

The disclosure was made in a statement by the Russian Health Ministry and quoted by Russian news agencies.

This is coming some days after the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, announced the registration of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine in what could be described as a step ahead of other vaccine developments.

The announcement is seen as a propaganda coup for the Russian government against the west amid a global race to develop vaccines against the coronavirus disease.

The announcement of the vaccine registration by Putin was met with caution from scientists and the World Health Organization (WHO), who said that it still needed a rigorous safety review. Some of the scientists fear that with this fast regulatory approval, Russia may be putting national prestige ahead of safety.

Putin had said the vaccine was safe and that one of his own daughters had been inoculated, although the final stage testing involving over 2,000 people just started this week. Such trials are considered very important before a vaccine can secure regulatory approval.

Russia has said the vaccine which is the first for the coronavirus disease to go into production, will be rolled out by the end of August.

The Gamaleya Research Institute, which developed the vaccine in collaboration with the Russian Defence Ministry, said that Russia would be producing about 5 million doses a month by December or January.

Gold price ended the trading session for the week on a bearish note.

This was its worst week since March, as U.S. Treasury yields surge and delay of the stimulus package from U.S congress dented the bullion metal’s upside.

Gold futures settled lost 0.85% to trade at $1,953.60.

Gold prices lost about 4.5% in value this week after hitting a record peak of $2,072.50 on August 7.

Higher U.S yields increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as gold, which has gained over 28% so far in 2020.

Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp in a note to Nairametrics spoke on the macros affecting the yellow metal’s price. He said;

“And fortunately for gold investors, they have friends at the Fed as speakers unanimously reside incredibly cautious about the US economic recovery.

“It has been a tumultuous week for the gold price, which is back to $1950 levels, having clawed back a good chunk of this week’s losses. The US dollar remains under pressure as investors are growing more skeptical of Congress’s willingness to pass a stimulus package.

Still, it could be a challenge for gold markets to regain last week’s fame as more fixed income traders are willing to short bonds now, which complicates the bullish gold view.”

Nigerian Breweries major shareholder, Heineken disclosed it purchased 274,542 units at an average price N35.76 per unit.

Insider disclosures are reported on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as a regulatory requirement especially when it informs a major shareholder or director of a company purchasing shares in the company they own.

In a related development, its chairman Chief Kolawole Babalola Jamodu also purchased 10,000 units at N37 per unit.

Nigeria Breweries closed at N36 per share on Friday trading at a price to earnings of 34x. The company has about 8 billion shares outstanding with Heineken as the majority shareholder.

What this means: Insider purchases are often an indication of how shareholders perceive the company’s valuation. It can also mean a lot of things from a possible capital raise to a strengthening of their existing holdings.

Nigerian Breweries has struggled for growth over the last few years as consumers continue to experience a change to taste and preference for alcohol.