• US markets closed due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
• Pfizer received approval for use of its COVID-19 oral pill in Canada.
• AMC Entertainment continues pandemic-recovery with all 950 cinemas open.

The US markets were closed on Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

One bitcoin is worth US$42,081 going into the Asian trading day.

The Australian dollar is firm against the major currencies and is buying 72.08 US cents.

Biotech giant Pfizer has received approval for use of its oral COVID-19 pill in Canada overnight. Health Canada approved Pfizer’s Paxlovid oral pill making it the first oral COVID-19 treatment that can be taken at home in Canada. Pfizer also announced that it is adding a production facility for its Paxlovid drug in France as part of a plan to invest US$594m in the country over the next 5-years.

AMC Entertainment Group is continuing a strong recovery from the pandemic as all 950 of its cinemas worldwide are reopened and staying open thanks to vaccines and progressive COVID-19 treatments. The ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ blockbuster also continues to boost AMC’s recovery as the film has grossed over US$1.5bn in ticket sales worldwide.

And Tesco, Aldi and other supermarkets in the UK are trialling AI-powered age-recognition software built into self-service supermarket checkouts to accurately guess a customer’s age when they purchase alcohol.