SQUAWK BOX, FRIDAY 19TH MARCH, 2021

Yields soar, hitting tech stocks. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreat in the face of the U.S. 10-year bill reaching a 14-year high. U.S.-China relations under the Biden administration are off to a rocky start as the superpowers’ top diplomats meet for the first time in Anchorage. The scheduled short opening session descended into an hour-long exchange of insults and acrimony over internal and foreign policy interference. Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency has ruled that the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is safe following reports of blood clot-related illnesses and deaths. Several EU nations have now resumed their vaccination rollouts as a result. And in energy news, oil prices could be in for a tumultuous day and are lower this week overall after new lockdowns were announced across Europe, including France, stoking demand concerns.