Summary: market mayhem

We are wrapping up today’s business blog. What a day.

• Wall Street has plunged 12%
• US airlines are asking for a $50bn bailout
• Californians have been ordered to stay home
• Gun sales in the US have soared

The business blog will be back tomorrow. In the meantime you can follow our live updates here:

Oz down under

Stock markets open in Australia shortly and it looks likely there will be another sell off after today’s rout in the US and Europe. Australia has avoided recession for three decades but Covid 19 could end that run.

You can follow the latest from Australia here:

McDonalds closes golden arches

It’s Big Mac to go for the foreseeable future. The burger chain has become the latest fast food merchant to announce it is closing all seating areas, effective at the close of business today.

Franchisees are “strongly encouraged to adopt similar operations procedures.”

Starbucks, Shake Shack and others have already announced they are moving to take out only until the situation is under control.

Peter Tuchman, Wall Street veteran - and the most famous face at the New York Stock Exchange - sums up how traders have felt today.

Boeing’s credit rating cut

More bad news for Boeing, its credit rating has been cut by S&P.

The company had been hit hard after the 737 Max tragedies exposed a “culture of concealment” at the company. Now the global collapse of the airline industry had dealt it another blow.

The aerospace giant, the US’s largest manufacturer, now has an S&P bond rating of BBB - one step above junk status. That comes after a 24% drop in its share price today.

Netflix and no chill

Just to show you the breadth of today’s Wall Street sell off, Netflix is down too.

The bureau of labor statistics, which compiles the US’s monthly jobs figures, will conduct its survey this week. The US is currently enjoying the longest streak in jobs growth in its history so the numbers, out April 3, will be very closely watched.

We are already seeing hiring freezes, especially in travel and leisure, but as the virus starts to hit the manufacturing supply chain, job growth will inevitably stall.

New York’s manufacturing index has already fallen sharply.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers is polling chief financial officers on Covid-19. The accountant put out the first of a bi-weekly series of polls today and it’s a bit mixed.

• 54% see a potential for significant impact to their business operations, and it is “causing us great concern”
• 80% see a potential for a global recession

PwC expect those numbers to shift a lot in the next few weeks as the picture is still so unclear.

Wall Street’s Monday night rout will weigh on Asia-Pacific markets down when Tuesday’s trading session begins.

Australia’s ASX 200 index is expected to fall, having already tumbled almost 10% on Monday.

Kyle Rodda of IG writes:

ASX200 to open lower today:

Though it’s proven an unreliable indicator amidst all the market volatility, SPI Futures are suggesting the ASX200 ought to open 4.1 per cent lower this morning. The expected spill in the index comes after a day in which it registered the worst intraday performance in its history.

The ASX200 shed 9.7 per cent on Monday, with the big banks leading the losses. The financial sector sapped 174 points from the market, largely due to investors’ pricing-in the negative consequences of lower rates on bank profits.

The US Federal Reserve’s attempts to calm the markets hasn’t been an overwhelming sucesss.

Last night, the Fed surprised investors with a big emergency rate cut, and the promise to create another $700bn of asset purchases.

This attempt to prop up the markets has triggered fresh alarm on Wall Street. Investors are concerned that the Fed is itself panicking about the US economy (how bad are things really?), and anxious that monetary policy will not stave off a recession.

Washington Post columnist Brian Klaas points out that today’s crash was actually slightly worst than the original Black Monday in 2019:

Wall Street’s tumble came as European finance ministers pledged to do “whatever it takes” to stem the economic damage of coronavirus on European economies and ensure a rapid recovery.

After a conference call of around four and a half hours, the 27 ministers issued a statement promising “a strong determination to do whatever it takes” - probably a deliberate echo of the former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi’s 2012 pledge to preserve the single currency, which proved a turning point in the eurozone crisis.

But the absence of a far-reaching EU-wide stimulus plan is likely to disappoint centrist, socialist and green politicians, who had called for such a sweeping response to boost the economy as the world faces a far-reaching slowdown.

Mário Centeno, president of the 19-country Eurozone, said ministers stood ready to take further action as the crisis evolved.

“We will to whatever it takes and more to restore confidence and support a rapid recovery.”

“Today we have put together a first set of national and European measures while setting a framework for further action to respond to a rapidly evolving crisis.”

Some instant reaction to today’s Wall Street tumble:

Wall Street’s late tumble came as Donald Trump gave a more serious assessment of the dangers of the coronavirus crisis.

As flagged earlier, the US president suggested it could take until July or August to get the outbreak under control.

CNBC has the details:

Asked when the U.S. might expect to turn a corner in its efforts to rein in the virus, Trump said that “If we do a really good job, we’ll not only hold the death down to a level that is much lower than the other way, had we not done a good job, but people are talking about July, August, something like that.”

Trump also spoke about the prospect of lockdowns in “certain areas” or “hot spots”, as the White House outlined its recommendations for Americans to avoid gatherings of 10 or more people, and to refrain from seating at bars, restaurants and food courts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

I think the Dow is now at its lowest level since February 2017, shortly after Donald Trump became US president:

This is the second time in three trading sessions that the Dow has suffered its worst fall since 1987.

The index has now posted four serious plunges in March already, and has lost 20% of its value this month alone.

Kristalina Georgieva, head of the IMF, has welcomed the G7 pledge:

Earlier today, Georgieva said the Fund “stands ready” to use its $1 trillion lending capacity to help countries that are struggling with the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Chris Giles of the Financial Times has put his finger on the problem with today’s G7 statement -- it’s a bit woolly (implying leaders haven’t achieved a major breakthrough).

It might be wrong to say that the Federal Reserve’s latest emergency measures have failed. It’s more that they can’t, alone, address the threat Covid-19 poses to global health and the global economy.

As Solita Marcelli of UBS Global Wealth Management puts it (via Reuters):

This is a different type of crisis. Lower rates will not create demand when people are home.

“But this doesn’t mean what the Fed has done is futile. Lower rates are a precondition to other policies.

So I think this has to be done, but it’s understandable the way the market is reacting.”

Goldman Sachs also dampened the mood on Wall Street today

They predicted the US economy would stagnate in January-March, and then shrink dramatically - by 5% - in April-June. Serious, worrying stuff. But they also predict the economy would bounce back later in the year - meaning annual growth of 0.4% (down from 1.2% before.

Marketwatch has more details:

The team said the prospect of a recovery and strong growth in the second half were dependent on whether social distancing and warmer weather reduces the number of virus cases, how quickly reduced infections will bring a return to normality and how effective fiscal and monetary policy turns out to be.

Goldman Sachs chief equity strategist David Kostin said, in a separate note, the S&P 500 could fall to as low as 2,000 points if the economic impact of the virus worsens but expected the index to reach 3,200 by the end of 2020.

The G7’s combined statement has not lifted the mood on Wall Street.

Instead, the main indices are still down almost 10% in late trading - on track for another day of huge losses.

• Dow: down 9.6% or 2,226 points at 20,959
• S&P 500: down 8.6% or 235 points at 2,475

Boeing is having a desperately bad day, down 20% right now, as many of its customers slash services and start mothballing jets.

House improvement group Home Depot are down 15%, with insurance group Travelers Companies losing 14%.

A review of UK company rules has opened the door for a raft of AGMs being delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

It’s an important step that could safeguard the health of hundreds of shareholders, including elderly investors, as the UK government said it would no longer support mass gatherings.

The business department has backed fresh guidance from the ICSA – known as the governance institute – which said this afternoon that companies have five options:

• Hold the AGM as planned, with appropriate modifications.
• Delay convening the AGM, if notice has not yet been issued.
• Postpone the AGM, if permitted under the articles of association (Articles).
• Adjourn the AGM
• Conduct a hybrid AGM, if permitted under the articles

The guidance was provided with legal advice from law firm Slaughter and May, and has also been backed by other groups including accounting regulator the Financial Reporting Council, GC100, the Investment Association and the Quoted Companies Alliance.

But we’re expecting further updates tomorrow from the ICSA on this issue tomorrow, to reflect the government’s new guidance....

Over in Westminster, British PM Boris Johnson has talked up the prospect of an economic bounce back, once the coronavirus outbreak has been curbed.

He told a press conference on Covid-19 that:

“This is unlike 2008, there isn’t a systemic problem within the economy.

If we can get the disease under control...then there is absolutely no reason why economies worldwide should not come roaring back.”

However, Johnson also warned people to avoid going out to places like pubs, clubs and theatres. If one member of a family shows symptoms of the coronavirus, they must all self-isolate for two weeks.

That will all have a severe impact on workers, and the wider economy.

Especially as chief medical officer Chris Whitty warns that tackling Covid-19 will take “quite a number of weeks”.

European stock markets also had another torrid day, falling to their lowest point since 2013.

The Stoxx 600 has dropped by 4.8% to close at 284 points. Banks, consumer cyclical firms, energy companies, and industrial groups led the slide.

The FTSE 100 has now lost roughly a third of its value in the last two months.

That’s an astonishing slump, as the coronavirus has moved from a local problem in Wuhan, to a blow to China’s manufacturing sector, to a massive shock to world demand and supply.

By my maths, almost £54bn was knocked off the FTSE 100 index today.

That’s merely a flesh wound, compared to some of the worse days in recent weeks. But it’s yet another blow to pension-savers, ISAs and other funds.

It takes the FTSE 100’s total losses over the coronavirus rout (which began just over three weeks ago) to around £565bn, I reckon.

Vauxhall’s major UK manufacturing facilities are to close until March 27 as part of a Europe-wide shutdown by owner PSA Group due to coronavirus.

Carmakers including Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot, Volkswagen and its premium unit Audi are reducing production at their European plants as they grapple with the Coronavirus.

Like factories in the UK they do not have clarity on social-distancing rules in the workplace.

Audi said workers have downed tools over concerns about exposure to the virus while Fiat Chrysler said it was halting production for two weeks to help protect staff and adjust to decline in demand.

French carmaker PSA, which owns the Peugeot, Opel and Vauxhall brands, also said it was closing its European factories until March 27.

Ford said it was closing its plant in Valencia, Spain, for the rest of this week following a flurry of infections, and would reassess after talks with trade unions.

A spokeswoman said on Monday:

“We have had three positive cases of COVID-19 on the Valencia site in a 24-hour period, two of which involved more isolated workers who did not enter the assembly operations,”

Ford employees who had close contact with the affected workers are now in self-isolation. Ford adds:

“We will take all other appropriate steps to ensure that risk from this situation is minimised.”

Last week, some Spanish plants of the Renault-Nissan alliance and Volkswagen’s Spanish division Seat announced temporary stoppages that could last for days or weeks.

On Monday, Volkswagen’s Autoeuropa car assembly plant near Lisbon, Portugal, said it had reduced its daily output by 16% because of a shortage of workers after Portugal ordered all schools closed amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Volkswagen also said on Sunday it was preparing to suspend operations at its plant in Bratislava after Slovakia declared a state of emergency in response to the virus.

Another UK travel insurer has boarded itself up -- this time, the Post Office.

It’s one of the biggest suppliers of travel insurance policies in the UK. But, faced with the coronavirus crisis, and widespread flight cancellations, the Post Office has suspended its offerings - both online and in branches.

It says:

The Post Office has taken this difficult decision as it is unfair to sell travel insurance products to new customers who may not be able to claim due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Post Office Travel insurance products will therefore be unavailable to new customers for the foreseeable future.

The markets might calm down if they had more idea about how bad the Covid-19 epidemic is, argues Robin Brooks of finance industry body IIF.

Testing levels are varying between countries, with the US in particular lagging behind.

The smaller FTSE 250 index of UK-focused companies is also clawing its way back.

It’s still looking weak - down almost 7% today, as pub chains, bookies, food groups and travel operators are pummelled. But at least it’s better than the 12% slump we saw this morning.

In another example of how Covid-19 is shaking Europe, the EU is now proposing suspending all non-essential travel for 30 days.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU commission, tweeted the news.

Our main coronavirus liveblog has more details.

Just in: bookmaker William Hill has suspended its dividend payments to shareholders, following the mass cancellation of sporting events.

The conavirus crisis has ripped through the sporting world, stripping out most opportunities for punters to wager their money (and often lose it, in my personal experience),

With professional football in England on hold, along with leagues in Germany and France -- and even Euro 2020 under threat -- William Hill sees a major impact on its revenues and profits.

It says:

In light of the ongoing uncertainty created by COVID-19 and following recent developments to postpone or cancel sporting events and close US casinos, we anticipate a material impact to the Group’s revenue and earnings in 2020.

53% of our 2019 revenue was generated through our sports book business.

In a surprise development, a few shares are actually rising on the London exchange.

These plucky stocks include steel and mining group Evraz (+6%), supermarket chain Sainsbury (+2.7%), and software firm Sage Group (+2%).

They’re hugely outnumbered by the fallers, of course - with airlines IAG and easyJet still down at least 20%, and the housebuilders shedding around 15%.

But it’s helping to pull the FTSE 100 up from the abyss, to around 5,095 points -- which would still be an eight-year closing low.

The markets have completely lost faith in the idea that the global economy could bounce back from the shock of Covid-19.

Instead, they seem to be pricing in a slump - followed by stagnation. Or an L-shaped recovery, not a V-shaped one.

Neil Mackinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital, explains:

“From an economic perspective, COVID-19, which started out as a negative supply shock, is now turning into a severe demand shock.

These shocks are no longer one-quarter hits followed by a V-shaped economic recovery but now are transforming into an L-shaped recovery. GS, in its latest US economic forecast, has revised downward its US real GDP growth for this year to 0.4%, but this forecast is contingent on a 3-4% rebound in the third and fourth quarters of this year.

The likelihood of a second half rebound is demanding, and the risk is that growth stays flat or negative.

The coronavirus has now reached the Basel headquarters of the Bank of International Settlements:

Today’s Wall Street slump shows comprehensively that the US Federal Reserve has failed to calm the markets, with its surprise interest rate cut last night.

The Fed had hoped to tackle the tensions in the markets by cutting rates to near zero, pledging to buy $700bn of assets, and easing banks’s reserve requirements.

Teaming up with the central banks fo the UK, Japan, Switzerland, Canada and the eurozone to make dollars more cheaply available was also meant to ease liquidity in the markets.

But Wall Street, like other international markets, is unimpressed.

Neil Wilson of Markets.com explains:

The Federal Reserve has panicked.

It didn’t just fire its bazooka, it dropped an atom bomb of liquidity and monetary stimulus. The Fed slashed rates 100bps and announced $700 of QE. Jay Powell, the Fed chair, also slashed rates at the discount window emergency rate by 125bps and cut banks’ reserve requirements.

There was also a coordinated central bank action by the Fed along with its counterparts in the UK, Europe, Japan, Switzerland and Canada to ease the flow of dollar liquidity. This should help stem some of the moves in FX markets but I fear that there is still an almighty dollar squeeze. the RBNZ also cut rates by 75bps and the BoJ is stepping up ETF purchases.

Policymakers are really starting to panic - this ought to be good for markets but the uncertainty over the economy and the outbreak mean everyone is derisking, everyone is seeking shelter in cash. The collapse in gold prices in the last week in the face of this volatility has been likened to the biggest margin call in history.

Can world leaders stop the panic in the markets, and ward off a global downturn?

We’ll find out later today, after they hold an emergency call -- or video summit -- to discuss the crisis.

The recent share plunges shows that the markets are screaming out for joint action to prop up the economy. Such a plan would need to save once-healthy firms now facing a cash flow crisis and help people who are laid off as demand slumps.

It’s a broad-based rout on Wall Street today.

Every stock on the Dow is in the red.

Aircraft maker Boeing has slumped by a fifth - demand for its jets will be badly hit as airlines suspend flights and ground their jets.

Credit card operator American Express is off 16.5%, on the prospect of a slump in US consumer spending.

The news of Wall Street’s plunge has driven shares down even further in Europe.

The FTSE 100 index is now down 8.5%, or 460 points, at 4904 points -- still its lowest intraday level since October 2011.

Trading on the Brazilian stock market has also been halted, for 30 minutes, after shares plunged in early trading:

Here’s where Wall Street was halted, after just moments of trading today:

And here’s the details of the circuit breakers that kicked in:

Cruise operator Carnival has warned that it expects to make a loss this year - but it doesn’t know how bad it will be.

In a statement just released, it says:

The Corporation believes the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on its operations and global bookings will have a material negative impact on its financial results and liquidity. The Corporation is taking additional actions to improve its liquidity, including capital expenditure and expense reductions, and pursuing additional financing.

Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Corporation is currently unable to provide an earnings forecast, however we expect results of operations for the fiscal year ending November 30, 2020 to result in a net loss.

Frankly it would be miraculous if Carnival didn’t make a loss, given it has been forced to pause operations across the globe - and suffered coronavirus outbreaks on two of its Princess ships.

Irish broadcaster RTE is reporting that around 140,000 people have been laid off work in Ireland because of the measures taken to tackle the coronavirus.

It says:

This is a combination of 70,000 restaurant workers, 50,000 pub and bar staff, and around 20,000 crèche and childcare workers.

Those eligable are being urged not to go to Intreo, the public employment service, offices, to abide by social distancing rules and avoid long queues.

Manufacturing in New York state has slumped into a deep downturn, according to the latest Empire State survey of factory output.

This manufacturing index has slumped to -21.5 for March, from +12.5 in February. That’s the worst reading since the financial crisis in 2009.

Companies reported that new orders, and completed shipments both slumped -- showing that the coronavirus is having a serious impact on economic demand.

Wall Street is heading for a 10% plunge -- which would immediately activate circuit-breakers, and trigger a 15-minute suspension.

Most airlines could be bankrupt by May, due to the restrictions being imposed on flights, according to the Center for Aviation (CAPA) consultancy.

In an sobering warning, CAPA says:

“Many airlines have probably already been driven into technical bankruptcy, or are at least substantially in breach of debt covenants. By the end of May 2020, most airlines in the world will be bankrupt.

Co-ordinated government and industry action is needed — now — if catastrophe is to be avoided.”

Virgin Atlantic has joined the ranks of airlines slashing its activity, as the travel industry reels from Covid-19.

Virgin is planning to slash flights by 80% by 26 March, and will terminate its London Heathrow-Newark route.

The coronavirus crisis hasn’t prevented Apple from being fined for anti-competitive conduct today in France.

Reuters has the details:

France’s competition watchdog on Monday fined iPhone maker Apple €1.1bn for anti-competitive behaviour in its distribution network and an abuse of economic dependence on its resellers.

Two of Apple’s wholesalers, Tech Data and Ingram Micro, were fined €63 and €76m respectiely, for unlawfully agreeing on prices, the authority said.

“Apple and its two wholesalers have agreed not to compete with each other and to prevent distributors from competing with each other, thereby sterilising the wholesale market for Apple products,” it said.

Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, predicts a very rough day on Wall Street:

He’s picked out some stocks to watch:

• Apple (AAPL) is plunging -12% as of writing. Though the company has reopened its stores in mainland China, it’s closed all of its other outlets for the next two weeks.
• Airline stocks are collapsing, with Delta (DAL) and United (UAL) both poised to open down by more than -14%.
• Big bank stocks are also on the selling block, despite the Fed’s attempts to keep them well financed: Bank of America (BAC) -17%, JP Morgan Chase (JPM) -16%, Goldman Sachs (GS) -13%, Citigroup (C) -18%
• Even video conferencing standout Zoom Communications (ZM) is pointing to a -4% lower open.

Stocks will remain under pressure until governments bite the bullet and launch spending plans to support the economy, he says:

As it stands, traders are desperate for a big fiscal stimulus package from the US government. As others have noted, the fundamental nature of the virus and resulting quarantine cannot be solved by monetary policy; it will require direct payments and subsidies from the federal government to tide households and businesses over while they wait out the worst of the virus’s spread.

The clocks have struck noon in the City of London, and the markets are still a mess.

Fears of a global recession have driven the FTSE 100 down 7.2% this morning to 4976 points. That’s its lowest since late 2011, compared to 7404 points just over three weeks ago.

The FTSE 250 index of medium sized UK companies has slumped by over 12% today, with transport firm First Group and pub chain Marston’s almost halving.

European markets are suffering even more damage, as economies across the region lock down. The Stoxx 600 has shed 8.7%, back to its lowest since the debt crisis of 2012.

Wall Street is expected to plunge sharply when trading begins in 90 minutes, as the Fed’s interest rate cut fails to calm the panic.

In overnight trading, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures contracts have all slumped by 5% -- the maximum allowed, meaning they’ll probably fall even further after the opening bell.

UK stock market investors must be feeling pretty bleak right now, watching their portfolios shrivel day by day.

And it’s certainly alarming to see the FTSE 100 at its lowest points level since autumn 2011 - a sign that UK company valuations are slumping.

But Jamie Powell of FT Alphaville makes an important point: the FTSE 100’s total returns are what matters. Factor in dividends over the years, and the picture is a bit rosier.

According to my Eikon terminal, the FTSE 100’s total returns since the start of 2012 are 33%, or roughly 3.5% per year.

Obviously it was a lot better before this crisis began (+80% back in January). But still better than sticking your money in the bank eight years ago.

Investors are absolutely reeling from the losses of recent weeks, and rightly so.

The FTSE 100 index has fallen faster than after the global financial crisis a decade ago, and much faster than after previous shocks.

Channel 4’s Paul McNamara has crunched the numbers:

After two and a half-hours of trading, European markets are still deep in the red as fears of a global recession swirl through the City.

The FTSE 100 is down 329 points, or 6%, at 5,034 - on track for its lowest close since 2011. Holiday and airline stocks are still being routed - with TUI down 32%, IAG down 22% and easyJet down 23%.

The Stoxx 600, which covers European companies, is down 8%, at its lowest since June 2013.

David Madden of CMC Markets UK says investors are “blindly” selling, with last night’s emergency action from global central bankers causing alarm.

It has been another brutal morning in the markets as traders are fearful the world economy is heading for a recession.

The fears surrounding the coronavirus crisis continues to rise in tandem with the number of new infections. Central banks around the world have stepped up their actions to combat the emergency, most notably the Federal Reserve – who slashed interest rates to 0-0.25%, as well as announcing a $700 billion quantitative easing scheme. We have seen rate cuts in South Korea and New Zealand too. Central bankers are doing their best to calm the markets but in reality it is having the opposite effect.

The radical measures have sent out a very worrying message to dealers, and that is why they are blindly dumping stocks.

Britain’s FTSE 250 index, which contains many UK-focused firms, is having a torrid day - down 11%.

And there are some gruesome moves.

First Group, the transport operator, have HALVED in value this morning to 37p. It operates rail and bus services in the UK, US, Canada and Ireland - so is facing a massive drop in revenues as people self-isolate.

Restaurant Group, which runs Wagamama, Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito, have slumped by 41% this morning.

Pub chains are also suffering extremely, with Mitchells & Butler down 32% and Marstons down 40%.

Obviously they are going to suffer a slump in takings as people stay at home. But the industry is facing another problem -- insurance payments may not protect them from coronavirus losses.

Just in: Whatever was wrong with Associated British Food’s share price has been fixed.

It’s now down “just” 12%, not 99.999% as wrongly shown earlier. These glitches do happen, but it’s not good on a terrifying enough day.

Something very odd has happened to Associated British Food’s share price this morning.

The stock has slumped to the bottom of the FTSE 100, seemingly down 99.999% to 0.01p, from over £18 on Friday night.

ABF was under pressure this morning, after reporting that 20% of store space at its Primark chain is currently shut across Europe. But the sudden slump, from £15 to 0.01p in a moment, suggests some kind of technical error.

As you can see, there was a massive surge of trading, just as it crashed to 0.01p. Fat finger error?

Today’s stock market slumps show that central bankers cannot solve the Covid-19 crisis alone.

Record low interest rates, cheap bank loans and liquidity injections can’t make up for the massive slump in consumer spending -- or keep country borders open.

The pressure on governments to provide larger economic rescue packages is building, with some companies facing serious cash flow problems. Those with large debt piles are also going to struggle to refinance their borrowing in the current climate.

Ayush Ansal, chief investment officer at Crimson Black Capital, says the Fed’s emergency rate cut last night may actually have made the panic worse.

“There’s a quicksand effect to central bank action right now.

“The more central banks struggle to get economies out of the current crisis, the deeper they, and the markets, go in.

“Sentiment has reached a point where positive policy measures are compounding market fears and are effectively being catastrophised.

“The fall of the FTSE 100 and other European exchanges on Monday’s open following the Fed’s action highlights the problem policymakers are facing.

“The shock to markets and economies from Covid-19 is so unique that monetary policy alone will not be effective enough.

“Monetary policy will have to work in tandem with radical fiscal measures to reduce the severe economic fall-out from Covid-19.

As well as the ailing travel firms, the list of worst-performing companies in London includes asset managers St James’s Place (-19%) and M&G (-16%), housebuilders Taylor Wimpey (-16%) and Barratt (-15%).

But Britain’s supermarket chains are holding up well, with shares in Sainsbury briefly turning positive despite the rout.

Consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser is up too. Covid-19 will mean strong demand for its Dettol cleaning product, and healthcare products such as strepsils, lemsip and nurofen painkillers.

Here’s the list of worst and least-worst fallers in London this morning.

Newsflash: The FTSE 100 has now fallen below the 5,000 point mark for the first time since 2011.

The Footsie is now down 402 points, or 7.5%, at 4965 points -- the lowest point since October 2011.

Every single share is down, in yet another day of horrendous losses.

The consumer cyclical sector are down 11%, industrial stocks and banks have both lost 10%.

Flutter Entertainment, which owns Paddy Power bookmakers and online gambling site Betfair, has also issued a coronavirus warning this morning.

Flutter estimates that the surge of sports cancellations in recent days (including English football until at least April) will hurt its profits badly.

If current restrictions remain in place until the end of August (plus the suspension of Australian sport and the cancellation of the Euro 2020 football tournament) then Flutter’s profits would be cut by up to £110 this year.

But the situation could be even worse......

This estimate assumes that our UK and Irish shops remain open and that scheduled UK, Irish and Australian horse racing fixtures continue to run, albeit behind closed doors.

Should horse racing be cancelled in the three regions and our UK/Irish shops be closed, we estimate that this would incrementally reduce Group EBITDA by approximately £30m per month.

Budget clothing retailer Primark has also been hit by the coronavirus.

It tells the City that 20% of its selling space is currently closed, due to the lockdowns in Italy, France, Spain and Austria.

This will have a significant impact on Primark’s sales, its owner ABF warns:

These stores currently generate 30 percent of Primark’s sales. From the date of this announcement, we had expected sales of £190m from these stores over the next four weeks.

The remainder of the estate, including the UK which represents 41 percent of sales, has seen like-for-like sales declines over the last two weeks and these have accelerated over the past few days as a result of reduced footfall. We are managing the business appropriately but do not expect to significantly mitigate the effect of the contribution lost from these sales.

The full scale of the economic pain suffered by China has become clearer this morning.

Retail sales across China plunged by 20% year-on-year in the January-February period, while industrial output fell 13.5%

That’s the worst factory output output since 1990, and implies China’s economy could be contracting this quarter. More here: