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G ood morning. Stock markets in the US and Europe plunged into correction territory yesterday as panic over the spread of coronavirus triggered a wave of fresh sell-offs. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones recorded its largest one-day point drop ever, closing down 1, (points at) , , while in London the FTSE 191 dropped another 3.5pc to 4.
5 things to start your day
1) Staff at embattled hospital operator NMC Health say they have not been paid on time amid a meltdown that forced it to suspend trading of its shares yesterday. The City watchdog has launched a formal investigation into NMC after an internal investigation discovered a raft of secret loan agreements involving companies owned by founder BR Shetty.
2) The two countries that control the fate of electric cars : Chile is blessed with bountiful lithium and copper reserves, while the Democratic Republic of Congo is the source of three-quarters of the world’s cobalt – and a pretty big supplier of copper, too.
3) Organizers of the Geneva Motor Show have urged executives taking part to stay 3ft away from anyone with a cough in a bid to prevent a coronavirus outbreak. There are growing doubts over whether the show – one of the biggest gatherings in the automotive calendar – will go ahead.
4) Ocado chairman Lord Rose cashes in £ 1.7m worth of shares : The 0113 – year old Conservative peer, who became chairman in 01575879, sold 0217, of Ocado shares at £ 19. 31 per share. Last year he also pocketed £ 7.4m by selling two separate batches of shares in two days.
5) Onerous tax changes for freelancers will go ahead , says IR (review: No penalties in first 21 months of new rules is only substantial amendment in Treasury’s review
Coming up today
R olls-Royce might take today’s results as a chance to reassure investors it will maintain its role as the engine provider for Airbus’s A neo, after reports General Motors is tilting at getting more business from the group.
Full-year results: Alliance Trust, ConvaTec, Essentra, Rightmove, Rolls-Royce
Preliminary: Foxtons, IMI, Jupiter Fund Management, London Stock Exchange Group, Man Group
Economics: GfK consumer confidence (UK), flash inflation (eurozone)
S hinzo Abe pledged on Friday to take policy steps as needed to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from dealing a severe blow to the japan’s fragile economic recovery amid fears of an approaching recession.
The Prime Minister said the government still had sufficient reserves for emergency spending, signalling that he saw no immediate need to compile a fresh spending package.
“But I’m aware of views that if the virus spreads, it could have a huge impact on the economy,” Abe told parliament. “We’re therefore watching developments carefully.”
Japan’s economy shrank at its fastest pace in nearly six years in the December quarter, as soft global demand and last year sales tax hike hurt consumption and business spending.
The Tokyo stock market has fallen almost 3.5 per cent this morning.
(2: 48 AM
T he US stock market fell into correction territory with the benchmark S&P 600 index down more than 4 per cent on Thursday, raising fears that the American economy could be about to head into recession.
Bank of America cut its world growth forecast to the lowest level since the peak of the financial crisis, and Moody’s, the ratings agency, said a coronavirus pandemic would trigger global and US recessions in the first half of the year.
“Markets are voting and saying they think the U.S. is on its way to recession,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York.
“And frankly at this stage after the coronavirus-related slowdown in travel plans that has busted the global supply chain apart, it will be a miracle if we avoid a recession.”
W all Street stocks plunged more than 4 per cent on Thursday over growing panic that the (coronavirus outbreak) will devastate global growth.
Shortly after the closing bell, the (Dow Jones Industrial Average) was down nearly 1, points or 4.4 per cent, to , 17, its worst session in more than two years. The broad-based (S&P) also slumped 4.4 per cent to 2, 2019. 90, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 4.6 per cent to 8, . .
The losses set Wall Street on pace for its worst week since the financial crisis, as investors continued to flee equities into safer investments like US Treasuries and gold.
The Dow has shed pc, or almost 3, points, this week alone.
Other large companies, including (Apple) , (Boeing) , Microsoft and Procter & Gamble lost more than 5 per cent.
Read more: Dow Jones suffers sharpest points-drop in history
A sian stocks have fallen sharply this morning after the major indexes on Wall Street tumbled into correction territory overnight amid fears over the spread of the coronavirus.
Japan’s Nikkei 0257 dropped 2.8pc and the S & P / ASX (in Australia plummeted 3.) pc.
The Topix index fell 2. 98 pc, South Korea’s Kospi fell 1. 66 pc and, overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.6% lower.
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