In the US, Spotify has said that podcast listening hours almost doubled in the fourth quarter and credited its strategic shift beyond music with driving a Wall Street-beating 24% year-on-year increase in new paying subscribers to 155m, reports Mark Sweney.

The audio streaming company, which saw its total monthly user base including those on its advertising-supported tier grow by 27% year-on-year to 345m, said that a quarter of its total user base engaged with podcast content in the final three months of 2020.

“We are confident that podcast usage has been a factor in the accelerated net additions,” said Daniel Ek, founder and chief executive of Spotify, in a letter to shareholders. “We have increasing conviction in the causal relationship between growth in podcast consumption driving higher LTV [lifetime value] and retention among our user base.”

The opening bell has run on Wall Street, and US stocks are mixed. The Nasdaq has opened 100 points higher after strong results from Google owner Alphabet and Amazon released after market close last night, while the Dow Jones is trading lower.

• Dow Jones down 62 points, or 0.2%, at 30,624
• S&P 500 up 12%, or 0.33%, at 3,838
• Nasdaq up 100 points, or 0.74%, at 13,713

Patrick O’Brien, UK research director at the research firm GlobalData Retail, has unearthed Amazon’s stellar UK performance in its 2020 results, published last night. I wonder how much tax Amazon paid in the UK last year...

The FTSE 100 index in London has turned negative, trading 12 points lower at 6,503, a 0.2% drop. Other European markets are still up.

• Germany’s Dax up 0.42% at 13,893
• France’s CAC up 0.2% at 5,574
• Italy’s FTSE MiB up 2.06% at 22,519

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, says we shouldn’t read too much in the better-than-expected employment data.

Sebastian Skeet, senior healthcare analyst at research firm Third Bridge, says:

GSKs top-line growth has been muted for several years now and this has left the company falling behind its peer group. In 2020 GSK wasn’t able to change course effectively, despite some considerable efforts to rebuild its pipeline. At constant exchange rates and pro-forma basis, top line sales for the pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer health division dropped by -1%, -1% and -2% respectively. Whilst this was offset with effective cost control, adjusted earnings per share declined 4% at constant exchange rates, and history is likely to repeat itself in the coming years.

Key assets such as its shingles vaccine, Shingrix, has seen significantly depressed prescription volumes due to US lockdowns although Q4 volumes have picked up. New launches include the multiple myeloma therapy Blenrep, although sales execution will be impacted by the pandemic and the drug carries concerning ocular toxicity issues which may limit its use.

Where others have multiple potential blockbuster drug candidates in the pipeline, GSK’s later stage pipeline looks somewhat anaemic. This has been compounded by recent trial disappointments. Most notably would be their Sanofi-partnered Covid-19 vaccine candidate, however in recent weeks we have heard of further trials being dropped.

There is nevertheless some positive momentum in the pipeline with a number of programmes kicking in. These include further Blenrep trials, the RSV vaccine candidate, otilimab and some other earlier stage candidates that have promising pan-oncology opportunities. GSK announced today a new collaboration with CureVac for next generation mRNA vaccines aimed at tackling multiple Covid-19 variant strains in one shot.

Julie Palmer, partner at the restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor, says:

The pandemic may have come at a bad time for GSK, with the drug maker currently mid-way through a restructuring program, but it could prove beneficial for the company in the year ahead as a global effort continues to tackle the virus.

Although the pharmaceutical giant has been late to the party with its Covid-19 vaccine, research trials are focusing on greater efficacy, while the company has the logistical capacity to manufacture and distribute products globally once the drug is approved. This compares to rival vaccines that have already been rolled out and faced significant scrutiny regarding their distribution and effectiveness. For long term protection, it will be companies such as GSK that have the most reliable trials and can mass produce cost-effectively that governments turn to. If the business can get its strategy right, it will be just what the doctor ordered for its investors.

GSK took a 10% stake in CureVac last year, and will also support the production of up to 100m doses of CureVac’s current Covid-19 vaccine this year. The biotech, based in Tübingen, is aiming to produce up to 300m of its vaccine this year.

It is already working with Germany’s Bayer to speed up development and production of that vaccine, which is in late-stage clinical trials involving thousands of volunteers in Europe and Latin America. Initial results are expected in March or April.

The Spanish banking giant Banco Santander has reported the first annual loss in its 163-year history, reports our banking correspondent Kalyeena Makortoff.

The lender swung to a €8.8bn loss for 2020, compared to a €6.5bn profit a year earlier, after the Covid crisis dealt a €12bn blow: forcing the bank to put aside to cover a potential surge in defaults and take a writedown the value of some of its assets. Restructuring costs also took their toll.

Over in Britain, Santander UK’s profits nearly halved, falling 44% to £552m for the year. It put aside £448m in case it had to take losses on soured loans. However, Santander cautiously praised its own performance, referring to its preferred underlying profit metric, which fell 38% to €5.1bn.

The group’s executive chair Ana Botín said: “Our 2020 results demonstrate the resilience and effectiveness of Santander’s business and strategy. She added that the Covid vaccine rollout would be key for turning around the bank’s fortunes. “Vaccination is the most important economic policy for 2021. We will not let down our guard, but I define my view as one of realistic optimism. A successful roll out of the vaccine will act as a strong catalyst for economic recovery.”

Here is our full story on the £132m partnership struck by GlaxoSmithKline, the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer, and the German biotech CureVac to develop a next generation of Covid-19 vaccines targeting new emerging variants in the pandemic.

Here’s more on Vodafone from Mark Sweney, our media business correspondent.

Vodafone’s shares climbed 4.4% this morning, after the company reported a return to organic service revenue growth in the mobile operator’s third quarter, handily beating analyst expectations of a decline for the third straight quarter.

The share price bump makes Vodafone biggest riser in the FTSE-100 in morning trading in London, as the performance bolstered investor expectation that the company remains on track to hit its full-year targets.

“Our good trading underscores our confidence in the outlook for the full year,” said Nick Read, chief executive at Vodafone. “I am pleased the group returned to service revenue growth in the third quarter as a result of the continued commercial momentum across our business, including our largest market Germany.”

Vodafone reported a 0.4% increase in organic service revenue, a key metric of underlying performance that includes monthly charges, airtime and data usage, against analyst consensus of a 0.1% fall. Vodafone’s return to growth follows a 1.3% fall in service revenues in the company’s first quarter and a 0.4% drop in the second quarter as the drop in international travel and roaming revenues due to the pandemic hit its bottom line.

The company, which reiterated its full year guidance of adjusted earnings of €14.4bn to €14.6bn, reported a total revenue decline of 4.7% in the final three months of 2020, dragged down by a poor performance at its Italian operation.

And here are some of today’s other stories.

There are no black executives in any of the top three roles at Britain’s 100 biggest companies for the first time in six years, according to a report on boardroom diversity, writes my colleague Joanna Partridge.

The United States Mint was unable to meet surging demand for its gold and silver bullion coins in 2020 and through January, due partly to pandemic-driven demand and plant capacity issues.

The Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, has asked the EU for an extension to 2023 of the grace periods for full checks on goods traded between Britain and Northern Ireland, reports our Brussels bureau chief Daniel Boffey.

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned Ryanair’s controversial “jab and go” holiday TV campaign, saying it encouraged the public to act irresponsibly once they have received a coronavirus vaccination shot, writes our media business correspondent Mark Sweney.

A company that runs the army barracks at the centre of a row over living conditions faced by asylum seekers stands to earn up to £1bn over 10 years for its government work, delivering multimillion-pound benefits for its owner, reports Rob Davies.

The Guardian has taken a closer look at the UK’s jobless crisis.

Rishi Sunak has been warned by the leaders of Britain’s most influential business groups and the trade union movement that he risks plunging Britain into a period of mass unemployment unless he extends the furlough scheme, our economics correspondent Richard Partington reports.

Before the budget on 3 March, both sides of industry told the chancellor that the economy was too fragile to end the wage subsidy scheme at the end of April and that he risked undoing the efforts to protect jobs over the past year if he did so.

Richard has visited Tottenham in north London. The area around the (relatively) new Spurs stadium (opened in 2019) is eerily quiet. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been felt more than in other parts of the capital, and the UK: Haringey – the borough with Tottenham at its heart – has the fastest growing rate of unemployment in the country.

Rachel Obordo, a community editor at the Guardian, has spoken to people who have been made unemployed due to Covid and their experiences of trying to find work.

And here is the UK’s Covid-19 unemployment crisis in six charts:

Our economics editor Larry Elliott has looked at what we can learn from British history about the current unemployment crisis.

Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at online trading platform IG, says:

Another bout of good news on the vaccine front has helped lift stocks, with the recent volatility being left behind for now. The US dollar continues to gain ground, with traders keeping an eye out for US jobs data to test whether the current positive dollar/stock correlation is just fleeting.

European indices are continuing their rise, with the weekend clearly playing a significant role in calming recent fears over a potential market collapse. While recent anxiety over attempts to target particular areas of weakness in the markets, that volatility has eased in anticipation of potential regulatory action from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Some will see it as a move to support the hedge fund billionaires over the retail investor, but markets are clearly seeing it as a positive that we could see action which may lessen the kind of volatility seen recently.

This week sees a return to more normalised drivers of sentiment, with US stimulus, vaccinations, and the prospect of an economic recovery back at the forefront. News that the AstraZeneca vaccine appears to slow the transmission of the virus has been heralded as a significant breakthrough, with many fearing that it may simply lessen the chance of a deadly infection rather than completely stopping patients catching the virus at all.

With the UK being so reliant upon the AstraZeneca vaccine, any good news for that particular jab has substantial consequences for the reopening prospects in this country.

Tim Moore, economics director at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, says:

Service providers experienced a steep downturn in business activity due to the third national lockdown in January, although the speed of decline remains much slower than last spring. Tight restrictions on travel, leisure and hospitality resulted in severely reduced trading among customer-facing businesses.

Temporary closures led to shrinking demand for business services and a ripple effect of corporate spending cutbacks. As a result, total new work fell at the fastest pace since May 2020 and this setback contributed to a steeper rate of job shedding at the start of the year.

While the UK economy is on course to contract sharply during the first quarter of 2021, businesses remain confident that pent up demand and an easing of pandemic restrictions will provide a springboard to recovery later this year.

Germany is up next. The business activity index for its services sector dropped to 46.7 in January, down from 47.0 in December. While it pointed to further contraction, the latest reading remained much higher than the record low last April (16.2) during the first lockdown, says IHS Markit.

Coupled with slower factory output in January, this meant that activity in the private sector slowed. Germany’s composite output index slipped from 52.0 in December to a seven-month low of 50.8.

Phil Smith, economics associate Director at IHS Markit, says:

The service sector was a drag on the German economy at the start of the year, according to latest PMI data, with business activity falling for the fourth month in a row and at a slightly quicker rate as lockdown restrictions were further tightened.

After recording the smallest of expansions in the final quarter of 2020, the economy looks likely to see a renewed contraction in the first quarter of 2021, with the current strict lockdown measures continuing until at least mid-February and even manufacturing showing some loss of growth momentum.

However, services firms took on more staff at the start of the year, and optimism reached a near-two-year high. Around 42% of firms are expecting higher activity in 12 months’ time, as they hope for a return to normality with coronavirus vaccines being rolled out.

In France, the service sector worsened at the start of the year, with the business activity index falling to 47.3 from 49.1 in December, according to final readings from IHS Markit. Hotels and restaurants were worst affected by tighter Covid-19 restrictions.

Eliot Kerr, economist at IHS Markit, says:

The first set of final PMI results for 2021 pointed to a sharper decline in private sector activity, as tighter COVID-19 restrictions hindered the economy. The service sector was more heavily impacted than the manufacturing sector, although goods producers did record a fresh decline in output, partially reversing the growth seen in December.

Meanwhile, a faster decline in new business was confined to the service sector, with manufacturers registering an improvement in demand conditions for the first time since October.

However it was not all doom and gloom: employment in the private sector went up for the first time in almost a year.

The downturn of Italy’s service sector continued into 2021, albeit at a slower pace, according to the latest survey from IHS Markit. Its headline business activity index rose to 44.7 in January from 39.7 in December – closer to the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.

The composite output index, which comprises services and manufacturing, posted 47.2 in January, up noticeably from 43.0 in December, to signal a softer reduction in Italian private sector output at the start of this year.

Lewis Cooper, economist at IHS Markit, says:

Italy’s service sector remained mired in a downturn into 2021, although the latest contraction in services activity was much softer than those recorded in the closing months of last year. Inflows of new work also declined in January, but similarly, the rate of reduction was the slowest for four months.

The latest data highlighted a much stronger level of business confidence, however, with firms’ hopeful that now the vaccine roll out is underway, restrictions will soon be loosened, allowing for the release of pent up demand and an economic recovery.

In China, activity in the services industries eased notably last month, the Caixin survey from IHS Markit showed. The headline business activity index fell to 52.0 in January from 56.3 in December. This points to a further loss of momentum since November, as it was the slowest rate of growth recorded over the last nine months.

Japan fared worse, with services output falling at the fastest rate in five months.

Spain’s services sector has had a tough start to the new year, according to the latest survey from IHS Markit. The headline business activity index (which is based on a single question asking firms to comment on developments in their activity since the previous month) plunged to 41.7 in January, from 48.0 in December.

It has been below the 50 market which divides expansion from contraction for six months.

Paul Smith, economics director at IHS Markit, says:

It was a tough start to 2021 for the Spanish service sector as the negative impacts on market activity of the pandemic plus unseasonably poor weather conditions weighed on the services economy.

Given the challenging near-term outlook, firms are understandably again being forced into employment cuts especially as new business volumes remain weak and operating expenses are rising.

There is of course some positivity amongst firms over the medium-term, with vaccine rollouts widely viewed as being key to unlocking demand and providing the platform for rapid expansion - but only once conditions return to some form of normality.

Oil prices are also pushing higher, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, rising more than 1%, or 60 cents, to $58.06 a barrel, the highest in more than 11 months. US crude has gained 0.82%, or 45 cents, to $55.21.

The oil market was buoyed by the latest assessment from the oil cartel Opec and its allies that oil stockpiles will fall below their five-year average by June.

European stock markets have recorded chunky gains in the first few minutes of trading.

• UK’s FTSE 100 up 0.79% at 6,566
• France’s CAC up 0.9%
• Spain’s Ibex up 1.2%
• Italy’s FTSE MiB up 2.6%