mark: i'm mark crumpton with bloomberg's "first word news." president biden will defend his record today as he approaches the one-year anniversary of taking office. he is spending the first year with setbacks and low approval ratings. the news conference is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. washington time. you can see that live here on bloomberg television. on capitol hill, house democrats are promising to sink the president economic agenda if a scaled-back version -- soft is a key issue for many democrats -- salt is a key issue for many democrats. new york's attorney general has asked a judge to order donald trump and two of his adult children to testify under oath as part of the ongoing civil probe into the family real estate business. she says investigators have discovered the former president likely used fraudulent valuations to restate the value of his assets. the trumps say the investigation is politically motivated. the judge has rejected that argument at least twice. booster shots with mrna vaccines failed to block omicron in a study of the fir

mark: i am mark crumpton with bloomberg's first word news. president biden says more than $5 billion will be distributed to repair or replace bridges across united states as part of infrastructure legislation passed by congress in november. the president says it is the largest investment in bridges since the creation of the interstate highway system, a project kickoff by legislation signed in 1956. new york city cannot be run remotely, that from the new mayor as he urged businesses to bring workers back and parents to send their kids to school. the city has been reporting a daily average of more than 25,000 covid-19 cases due to the surging omicron variant. hong kong's leader is promising to press on with the city's covid zero strategy. the chief executive is extending sweeping social distancing measures and flight bans until after the lunar new year break. hong kong has relied on some of the world's harshest border controls to deal

mark: i am mark crumpton was "first word" news u.s. user on heightened alert for deployment for nato troops in europe are ready to go at a moments notice. white house security adviser told cnn today this is not an aggressive step up by nato. he called a defensive stance and a reassurance in response to what russia has done. more problems for british prime minister boris johnson over allegations of rule breaking parties during the pandemic london police are investigating the claims. the prime minister's office has confirmed that staff gathered in downing street to celebrate his birthday during the first lockdown in 2020. a government report on the parties may be published this week. that could add to the clinical pressure on the prime ministers. rates of covid-19's view on this and death fell in the united states during the omicron-- severe dullness death fell during in--severe illness and d

i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪ matt: it is 1:00 in new york, 6:00 in london, 2:00 in hong kong. welcome to bloomberg markets. here are the top stories we are following from around the world. stocks drop and yields surge. all of the 11 s&p sectors are in the red with a two year yield eating its highest level since february 2020. full market coverage ahead this hour. a $69 billion deal. microsoft agrees to an all cash purchase of activision blizzard, creating the third-largest gaming company in the world. what hurdles lie ahead as microsoft embarks on its biggest deal ever. is the everything bubble about to burst? we ask oaktree capital's howard marks who warned that all assets were in a bubble and that the fed should let rates normalize. all that and more, coming up this hour. as we saw, the s&p 500 down almost 2%, the lowest level of the session. the nasdaq down 2.33%. behind the drop in tech has been the surging yields. we are seeing that across the curve. two year yield up above 1% for the

mark: i am mark crumpton with bloomberg's first word news. the nato secretary-general says the western alliance has increased the readiness of its response force over the past weeks and is considering adding battle troops to the black sea region. he says nato is working hard for the best peaceful political solution but it is also prepared for the worst. >> from the nato side, we are ready to engage in political dialogue, but we are also ready to respond if russia chooses an armed conflict. mark: russia has denied it intends to invade its neighbor despite massing thousands of troops, tanks, and equipment near ukraine's eastern border. bloomberg has learned the biden administration held discussions with the country's largest banks some possible sanctions against russia. this week, members of the national security council and other senior officials spoke with executives from banks including citigroup, bank of america, j.p. morgan chase, and goldman sachs.

i'm mark crumpton with bloomberg first word news. the biden administration is taking steps to make sure americans have an easier time getting at home covid tests. the white house plans to buy another 500 million tests. the shortage has led to long lines at testing centers across the country .global news 24 many have faced trying to find masks. president biden: next week, we will announce how we are making high quality masks available to americans for free. i know that we all wish we could finally be done with wearing masks, i get it. but they are an important tool to stop the spread, especially of the highly transmittable omicron variant. mark: as covid cases klein, consumer prices for masks been soaring. the u.k.'s prince andrew has been stripped of his titles. buckingham palace as his military titles and royal patronages have been returned to the queen with her approval and agreement. more than 150 navy and army veterans wrote to the queen, asking her to strip andrew up his ranks and titles. the prince is embroiled in a sexual assa

i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> 1:00 p.m. in new york, 7:00 p.m. in berlin, i'm matt miller and welcome to "bloomberg markets." top stories from around the world. the countdown to the fed, the central bank out with its rate decision. full coverage with danielle dimartino booth, former advisor to the dallas fed. and another big event, president biden will be meeting with ceos to discusses build back better program and how it will benefit the workforce. and breaking news on the supreme court, justice stephen breyer is retiring, giving president biden a chance to fill his first vacancy on the supreme court. now a look at what is going on in the markets. after the drops yesterday, we have seen gains today. 1.5%. with volatility, that could change. but we have stayed between gains of 1%-2% for most of the day. 10 year yield is up as investors feel comfortable enough to sell the debt, or maybe they are waiting on a stronger coupon. 1.7726 is where we are. and the bloomberg dollar index, little changed. and crude continues to rise, $87.52 a barrel. brent

. ♪ mark: on mark crumpton with first word news. the white house is moving to prevent future shortages of coronavirus tests. the administration wants to ensure that the tests continue to be produced in large numbers even after the omicron variant recedes. americans are waiting in long lines to get tested. that is leading to frustration and could pose a political risk for president biden. boris johnson has apologized for attending a party during lockdown in may of 2020. he insisted he thought it was a work event. >> with hindsight, i should have sent everyone back inside. i should have found some other way to thank them. i should have recognized that even if it could be set technically within the guidance, there would be millions of people who simply would not see it that way. mark: the leader of the opposition has called for his resignation. greece is expanding measures aimed at stemming the spread of covid and omicron variant by one week. the health officials say the curves have led to a drop in daily number of new cases. they hit

i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> it is 1:00 p.m. in new york, 7:00 p.m. in berlin. welcome to "bloomberg markets." u.s. stocks staged a rebound. equities in the green as investors prepare for more volatility ahead about a week of corporate earnings. we will hone in on currency and follow stocks, as the dollar hits session lows. plus brent crude has posted its strongest january in over 30 years, as director moves more troops to the border of ukraine. we will hear from the u.s. envoy to nato amid the tense geopolitical situation. and the latest on the virus front as well. canadian prime minister justin trudeau testing positive for covid while china faces a lot of hurdles ahead of its winter olympic games. all that and more coming up this hour. let's check what's going on in the markets. it's been the time to tune in if you want to see volatility over the last few trading sessions. the s&p 500 staging a comeback, up 1.2%. down about 7% so far for the month of january. this is the last trading d

. ♪ mark: i am mark crumpton. president biden is holding a call with european leaders including emmanuel macron as western nations work to strike up unified position on russia. president vladimir putin has repeatedly denied plans to attack neighboring ukraine. >> he's on his own territory which he is claiming. he has been in ukraine and fighting with us for seven years. it has cost us 15,000 people and 7% of territory so why would we believe him right now? mark: nato said it would boost deployments in western europe in a bid to deter a new russian -- in ukraine. jury selection