Wall Street has closed for the week - and what a week.

The S&P 500 is down 15% for the week. The Dow fell over 900 points on Friday after a brief morning rally. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 12% over the week.

It’s been the worst week for investors since the 2008 financial crisis.

Gold and oil fell too as investors moved to cash.

In New York claims for unemployment have rocketed and the state is struggling to cope with increases in claims of up to 1,000%.

In the UK the government has pledged to pay 80% of wages for those who have lost their jobs to the pandemic.

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange will be empty of traders on Monday after two people tested positive for coronavirus infection. So no men (mainly) in funny coats.

But trading will continue electronically - most of it is done that way anyway.

Thanks for reading. We will be back with all the live business news on Monday. In the meantime, stay safe and wash your hands.

You can follow all the latest Covid-19 developments here.

More frightening news on Covid-19’s economic impact. Goldman Sachs is now predicting the pandemic will trigger an unprecedented 24% decline in the US economy in second quarter, following a 6% decline in the first quarter.

That’s the most grisly prediction from a big bank economist so far.

The bank’s economists expect a bounce back of 12% in the third quarter and 10% in the fourth quarter, but unemployment will surge to 9%.

“Over the last few days social distancing measures have shut down normal life in much of the US. News reports point to a sudden surge in layoffs and a collapse in spending, both historic in size and speed, as well as shutdowns of many schools, stores, offices, manufacturing plants and construction sites,” the economists said. “These developments argue for a much sharper drop in GDP in Q1 and Q2.”

With less than an hour of trading left all the major markets are back in the red - again. If this holds, it will be the worst week on US stock markets since the financial crisis of 2008.

As it stands:

Dow Jones - down 3.3%

S&P 500 - down 3.3%

Nasdaq - down 2.3%

New York - now a major center of new Covid-19 infections - is cracking under the strain of people applying for unemployment benefits.

As restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses close thousands are trying to get benefits in order to meet their bills.

The New York state labor department said it received 159,000 calls by noon on Thursday, compared with the average of 10,000 calls a day. In some parts of the state, the department said, there was a 1,000% increase in claims. The website is seeing a 400% increase above normal in logins each day.

You can read the full story here:

This as Goldman Sachs is warning new claims for unemployment could pass two million for the week ending March 21, his most conservative estimate of a million claims which would top the record high of 695,000 in 1982.

Sterling is in retreat after chancellor Rishi Sunak announced some truly historic measures which will see a big increase in government borrowing.

You can read the main announcements for business here, and follow the reaction to Sunak’s speech here.

The pound is up by 1.2% for the day - a percentage point less than points earlier this afternoon - at $1.1621 against the US dollar.

Sunak’s announcements came after the FTSE 100 gained 0.76% on Friday, closing at 5,190.78 points - the lowest end-of-week close since 2011.

In Europe the Stoxx 600 gained 1.8%, with the Cac 40 in France gaining 5%.

Dominic Rushe will now take over the live blog. JJ

Closing pubs, bars, restaurants

Boris Johnson said all cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants must close tonight.

Nightclubs, theatres, gyms, cinemas and leisure centres must also close on the same timescale.

Paying wages

To protect jobs, the chancellor announces that the government will step in and help pay wages, for the first time in UK history. It’s called the coronavirus job retention scheme.

Companies and organisations will be able to apply for a grant from HMRC to cover the wages of people who are not working due to coronavirus shutdowns, but who haven’t been laid off.

It will cover 80% of the salaries of these retained workers, up to £2,500 per month.

It means that workers across the company can retain their jobs, even if their bosses can’t afford to pay them, Sunak explains.

VAT holiday

no business will pay VAT from now to June, and they’ll have until the end of the financial year to repay those bills. That should help companies struggling with a cash flow crisis.

The chancellor this will injection £30bn into the economy.

Business loan scheme

The government is also extending its coronavirus business interruption loan scheme, to be interest free for 12 months (up from 6 months).

Deferring self-assessment deadline for taxes

The deadline for self-assessment of taxes will be extended to January 2021, meaning that self-employed people will have longer to pay their taxes.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is announcing historic measures to help businesses.

No businesses will pay VAT until the end of June, a deferral of tax payments for another quarter.

EasyJet will ground the majority of its aircraft fleet from Tuesday 24 March, the airline has announced.

It will conclude rescue flights to repatriate customers by Monday, and will at most continue to run “a minimal schedule” of essential, mainly domestic routes.

With so many no-shows in recent weeks, EasyJet urged customers who do not intend to travel to rebook now to match any remaining flights to demand.

The airline has asked staff to take three months unpaid leave, but angered unions by also trying to reduce terms and conditions such as flexible rosters and meals.

*And apologies for the repetition on airlines’ unapid leave earlier. JJ

The US Federal Reserve has made yet another intervention to support the US economy, this time expanding support to municipal bond markets, which are key for the funding of local city authorities.

Local government authorities are on the front line of the battle against coronavirus disruption in many countries, leading to fears from investors that they could come under financial pressure.

Here’s the statement from the Fedearl Reserve:

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday expanded its program of support for the flow of credit to the economy by taking steps to enhance the liquidity and functioning of crucial state and municipal money markets. Through the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, or MMLF, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston will now be able to make loans available to eligible financial institutions secured by certain high-quality assets purchased from single state and other tax-exempt municipal money market mutual funds.

Jasper Jolly here, taking over from Angela for the next few hours.

Ford has become the latest car maker to announce temporary factory closures in the UK due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The US manufacturer does not make cars in the UK but said its engine-making plants at Dagenham and Bridgend, which produced 1.1m engines between them last year, would be suspended from next Monday and Wednesday respectively.

The shutdown will also be extended across the remainder of the business, barring a small number of employees, a decision affecting 12,900 UK staff, with around 5,000 of them in direct manufacturing.

All employees will receive pay at least equivalent to their base wage.

Airlines have been taking further measures to secure their businesses, faced with virtually no flights operating during April and May - at the very least.

• British Airways pilots will take half of April and May as unpaid leave, unions have agreed.

• EasyJet has asked pilots and cabin crew to take three months’ unpaid leave, and reduce terms and conditions, according to the BBC.

• Ryanair staff across the board will be taking a 50% pay cut for April and May, boss Michael O’Leary told the FT.

• Air New Zealand was promised loans of up to NZ$900m (£438m) by the NZ government to ensure its survival.

• Analysts aired fresh doubts over Norwegian Air despite credit guarantees from the Oslo government worth up to 6bn kroner (£450m).

• Cathay Pacific subsidiary HK Express is ending all flights. Cathay, the main Hong Kong carrier, has already axed more than 90% of its schedule.

• Air Canada is temporarily laying off more than 5,000 flight attendants.

Americans will have an extra three months to file their taxes, to ease the pressure on finances caused by Covid-19. The deadline has been extended to 15 July.

The measure was announced on Twitter by US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin:

The City regulator has told banks and building societies that they must not repossess people’s homes during the coronavirus crisis, and cannot charge fees for payment holidays granted as a result of the pandemic.

In guidance to lenders, the FCA said: “Firms should not commence or continue repossession proceedings against customers at this time, given the unprecedented uncertainty and upheaval they face, and government advice on social distancing and self-isolation.

“This applies irrespective of the stage that repossession proceedings have reached and to any step taken in pursuit of repossession. Where a possession order has already been obtained, firms should refrain from enforcing it.”

The FCA said that lenders should offer three-month payment holidays to struggling buyers, and were not expected to investigate customers’ circumstances before saying yes. They said banks could continue to charge interest but were not allowed to levy any other fees.

The bell has rung on Wall Street and markets have opened higher - but the gains are pretty limited so far.

• Dow Jones: +0.8%

• Nasdaq: +1.6%

• S&P 500: +0.9%

As employees, employers and investors await the chancellor’s package of measures to protect pay and jobs during Covid-19 - expected later this afternoon - the ONS has published the latest snapshot on the public finances.

The figures show a slightly better borrowing picture than expected in February. The government borrowed around £300m last month, that’s roughly half the amount in the same month a year ago.

Borrowing has however been steadily rising, by around £4.2bn more so far this year than the same period a year earlier. And attention is turning to the damage the coronavirus outbreak will cause.

Rishi Sunak’s emergency measures to combat the economic fallout - £12bn at last week’s budget topped up with a further £20bn in spending this week - will cause the deficit to explode in the next financial year.

Analysts at Capital Economics estimate borrowing as a percentage of the UK economy could balloon to 8% of GDP, a massive jump from official estimates for a deficit worth around 2.5% of GDP, as government spending dramatically rises and the economy and tax receipts fall off a cliff. For context, borrowing reached peaked at around 10% of GDP following the 2008 financial crisis.

Asda has announced it will hire more than 5,000 temporary employees who have been laid off due to Covid-19.

Chief executive Roger Burnley said:

Never in my 30 years in retail have I ever felt so keenly the role played by supermarkets in our communities. The way our colleagues are working to support the nation is incredible and I want to support them – and those closest to them who are experiencing the other end of this crisis and need work.

Where we can provide opportunities for employment, even short term, to help people through this period, we want to play our part. And where we are able to reduce the strain on our smaller suppliers and tenants – we will do so.

Lidl meanwhile said it would create 2,500 jobs across its 800 stores. The roles will be temporary and will pay at least £9.30 an hour, the German supermarket chain said.

Christian Härtnagel, chief executive at Lidl in the UK, said:

Our store colleagues are doing an incredible job at keeping our shelves stocked, and serving communities during an extremely challenging period. Temporarily expanding our teams is one way we can help support our colleagues and customers, whilst providing work to those that have had their employment affected by the current situation.

The International Monetary Fund has posted a blog on China and the impact of Covid-19.

There are some positives:

While there are reassuring signs of economic normalization in China—most larger firms have reported reopening their doors and many local employees are back at their jobs—stark risks remain. This includes new infections rising again as national and international travel resumes.

Even in the absence of another outbreak in China, the ongoing pandemic is creating economic risks. For example, as more countries face outbreaks and global financial markets gyrate, consumers and firms may remain wary, depressing global demand for Chinese goods just as the economy is getting back to work.

Therefore, Chinese policymakers will have to be ready to support growth and financial stability if needed. Given the global nature of the outbreak, many of these efforts will be most effective if coordinated internationally.

You can read the full blog post here.

Oxford Economics has updated its forecasts for the UK economy, taking into account the social distancing measures announced by the government.

The research group now expects the UK to fall into a deep recession in the first half of 2020, with gross domestic product shrinking by 1.4% in 2020 as a whole (the economy grew by 1.4% in 2019).

It adds:

The subsequent rebound in activity should be strong, as the resumption of discretionary spending is supported by low oil prices and monetary and fiscal stimulus. We now expect GDP growth of 3.7% in 2021.

However, there is huge uncertainty around the duration and impact of social distancing measures. Our downside scenario, involving a further worsening of the outbreak and financial stress, sees GDP falling by 2.5% this year.

My colleague Jillian Ambrose reports:

US President Donald Trump has set out plans to stem the flood of oil into the global market by offering to spend $3bn buying up US oil to hold in the US government’s ‘strategic petroleum reserves’. Trump said he might also be willing to meddle in the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia “at an appropriate time”.

Trump’s promised barrel buying spree, a tactic last used by the US in the 1970s, has already offered some respite to global oil markets after one of its steepest declines in history. The US oil price climbed from lows of just over $20 a barrel earlier this week to $27 a barrel, while the international benchmark - Brent crude - climbed from 17 years lows of $25 a barrel back up to $30 a barrel.

However, analysts warn that support from the US, and other economic interventions from governments around the world, will not be enough to repair the growing imbalance in the markets.

Goldman Sachs said that the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus could cut the world’s demand for oil by around 8 million barrels of oil a day meaning the US actions would be “much too small to offset the impact on the market over the longer-term”.

US markets are expected to rise when Wall Street opens, with futures showing gains:

• Dow Jones: +3.7%
• S&P 500: +3.2%
• Nasdaq: 4.6%

Additional measures from the US Federal Reserve propped up Wall Street on Thursday and expectations that the central bank will do more is helping sentiment.

US markets - like those in Europe - have been hammered over the past month as the escalating coronavirus crisis spooks investors.

The S&P 500 has fallen by nearly 30%, or more than $8tn, since hitting a record high last month.

The pound’s revival means that it has climbed above 1985 lows agains the dollar.

Kenneth Broux, currency strategist at Societe Generale, says the intervention from the Bank of England on Thursday was well-timed:

It’s been extraordinary. The pound is acting more like an emergency markets currency.

Tuesday was panic stations and we had a big blow out in gilts. Investors have been liquidating all types of investments just to drum up cash (in dollars).

A lot of investors were terrified by the chance of sterling falling even lower and deeper losses.

The Bank of England’s action was very timely. It’s not about the rate cut, more about restarting quantitative easing.

The Competition and Markets Authority has launched a Covid-19 taskforce to tackle the excessive prices being charged by some people for in-demand products such as hand sanitiser.

It will identify “harmful sales and pricing practices” as they emerge and “warn firms suspected of exploiting these exceptional circumstances – and people’s vulnerability – through unjustifiable prices or misleading claims.”

So this is designed to tackle traders who might have bulk bought items such as loo roll with the intention to resell them at a higher price to take advantage of the higher demand.

The CMA has already contacted traders and platforms regarding excessive pricing of hand sanitiser, it said.

Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s chief executive, said:

This is obviously a time when we all have to behave responsibly to protect our fellow citizens, and particularly those who are most vulnerable. We urge retailers to behave responsibly in the exceptional circumstances of the COVID -19 outbreak.

But if they do not, our taskforce is monitoring market developments to enable us to intervene as quickly as possible. We have a range of options at our disposal, from warnings to enforcement action to seeking emergency powers.

We hope that such action will not be necessary, but we will do whatever is required to stop a small minority of businesses that may seek to exploit the present situation.

Responding to suggestions that he should not be issuing pronouncements on how to deal with coronavirus, Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin said he was entitled to make public statements on the outbreak.

“We’re a democracy aren’t we? I’m obviously not an expert, nor am I an economist, but i’ve got a view and that’s all I can say. People can accept it or not. Even if you’re not an epidemiologist you can look at what other countries do and weigh up what’s happened.”

The pub chain has said its 870 UK pubs will stay open but with precautions in place, such as no standing at the bar, frequent surface wipedowns and customers asked to sit far apart from each other where possible.

But Martin warned that a long-term shutdown could be terminal for any pub company.

“Even if you’ve got the greatest pub company in the world, you depend on the doors being open. If they shut for long enough the entire hospitality industry, never mind Wetherspoons will be in serious trouble.”

JD Wetherspoon has seen a significant change in customer behaviour since the prime minister Boris Johnson advised people to stay away from pubs and restaurants in an attempt to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The pub group, which operates 874 pubs, said its sales declined 4.5% in the week to Sunday 15 March.

Sales then declined at a “significantly higher rate” after Johnson’s warning on Monday, Wetherspoon said.

Shares are up 27% this morning at 715p, as investors welcomed the pub chain’s decision to cut its dividend and cut capital spending - measures which it said (when combined with the government’s business rates holiday) would provide sufficient liquidity to “maintain operations at a substantially lower level of sales”.

Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley Motors have become the latest British carmakers to suspend production at their UK factories as the disruption from the coronavirus outbreak spreads.

JLR and Bentley both said that production at their plants will not start again until 20 April at least, with the restart dates under constant review.

Almost every major carmaker around Europe has paused production, in response to an expectation of massively reduced demand in all key markets, and the health implications for their workers all factors.

JLR, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, is the UK’s largest manufacturer of cars, with 35,500 UK employees. The closure affects its main car assembly sites at Castle Bromwich, Solihull and Halewood, as well as engine manufacturing at Wolverhampton. Non-manufacturing employees will work from home.

Bentley, which is owned by Volkswagen, the world’s largest carmaker, said that some “core operations” will continue in its plant in Crewe, with social distancing measures enforced among its 4,500 employees.

More action from the Bank of England this morning, this time relating to banks.

It has cancelled this year’s stress tests and said it may be hard to implement new global capital rules at a time when banks are being asked to step up support of businesses and households in response to Covid-19.

Announcing the decision, the Bank said:

The recent 2019 stress test showed that the UK banking system was resilient to deep simultaneous recessions in the UK and global economies that are more severe overall than the global financial crisis, combined with large falls in asset prices and a separate stress of misconduct costs.

The pound is up sharply this morning, as optimism builds about a package of measures to protect jobs and wages as well as progress in coronavirus testing.

• Sterling is up 3.3% against the dollar at $1.1867

• One pound is is worth €1.0993, up 2.4%

The rise is all relative of course.. earlier this month the pound was worth above $1.30 and €1.16.

Train services across Britain will be reduced from Monday as people are urged not to travel in order to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Passenger numbers have already dropped 70% since the outbreak started.

In London, a reduced London Underground service has already come into effect with the closure of 40 stations, and the axing of the night tube.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said:

We are taking decisive action to protect the public, which means reducing travel for the time being, whilst still ensuring key worker heroes can get to their jobs to keep this nation running.

For passengers in crucial roles, including essential workers in our emergency services and NHS, alongside people who need to attend medical appointments or care for loved ones, these changes protect the services they rely on.

Read our full story here:

Britain’s bus operators have called on the government to provide £1bn in immediate help to maintain critical services as passenger numbers fall away with the coronavirus.

Operators say passenger numbers have already fallen by more than half outside London, with a loss of £50million per week in revenues, even before the closure of schools.

While the government had pledged to deliver £5bn in additional funding over five years to the industry, with the importance of bus services having risen up the political agenda before the coronavirus outbreak, bus firms now say they need a first tranche simply to guarantee income and support staff costs to maintain vital routes.

Graham Vidler, chief executive of the Confederation of Passenger Transport, which represents bus companies, said: “Operators are under extreme pressure and facing impossible choices over which routes they have to cut and how many staff may have to go. Buses are crucial to keeping workers moving – and must remain a vital backbone of public transport once this crisis is over.

“We urgently need the Government to help bus workers and their employers now to secure the future of the industry.”

Firms collectively employ around 100,000 drivers and 120,000 support staff, whose jobs are at risk.

There is no sea of red in equity markets this morning.. instead all major European indices are higher (following gains on Wall Street on Thursday).

However, the FTSE 100 has lost some of its earlier gains and is now up 2.2% or 115 points at 5,269.

Elsewhere:

• Germany’s Dax: +5.5% at 9,081

• France’s CAC 40: +4.6% at 4,034

• Italy’s FTSE Mib: +2.5% at 15,847

• Spain’s Ibex: +4% at 6,651

• Europe’s Stoxx 600: +3.7% at 299

More on that warning from Marks & Spencer.

The company said that while it is not a destination for those consumers stockpiling food and other products, it does expect to benefit as people stay at home to eat instead of visiting pubs, cafes and restaurants.

We expect our food business to trade profitably throughout. At this stage we have benefited on a small scale as customers stock up but our heavy bias to chilled and fresh means we are not seeing the forward buying uplift experienced by the major grocers.

The significant shift to eating in home should however continue to benefit sales in the months ahead. Although there will undoubtedly be supply interruptions, we do not expect these to be prolonged or financially material.

The same cannot be said of its home and clothing business:

There will be a substantial impact on Clothing and Home revenue at the very least in the first 3-4 months of the next financial year. Although it is possible that this may ease as we get into summer trading, margins are likely to be severely impacted by the surplus of unsold seasonal stock and probable clearance activity in the marketplace.

We are therefore taking all possible steps to defer supply. However, a very large part of our core business is less seasonal year-round essential product and this should provide some scope for carrying forward stock. At this stage we are not assuming a return to normal trading in the Autumn.

Shares in Marks & Spencer are down about 3% in early trading at 111p - underperforming the wider FTSE 100.

The warning from the retailer this morning really does bring home the uncertain path for businesses in the weeks and months ahead due to the coronavirus outbreak.

M&S said it is not assuming a return to normal trading in the Autumn.

The FTSE 100 is rising in early trading, up 5 % or 256 points at 5,407.

Investors have welcomed the latest emergency action from the Bank of England, which cut rates to an all time low of 0.1% and announced £200bn of additional bond purchases on Thursday.

But there is also great anticipation that the chancellor Rishi Sunak will this afternoon announce a package of measures to protect wages and jobs.

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of economics, business and markets in the UK, the eurozone and worldwide.

Marks and Spencer has issued a warning this morning about the impact of Covid-19.

M&S - one of the best known names on the high street - said it has suffered a substantial fall in sales in its clothing and homes business and as a result its forecast for the current quarter are “adversely affected”.

It comes as the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, prepares to announce a package to help protect jobs and wages during the crisis.

M&S said in a statement:

It is too early to make any reasonable forecast for revenues in the next financial year but we are planning on the basis of a prolonged downturn in demand for Clothing and Home.

We are preparing for the contingency that some stores may have to close temporarily. However, our business model of operating parallel Clothing and Food businesses and our strategy to move online including the Ocado joint venture should provide more resilience than some single sector businesses.

Marks & Spencer said that while its food business was expected to remain profitable, its clothing and homes business was likely to take a heavy hit in the current financial year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic:

The final result could be at or below the bottom end of the range of profit before tax of £440-460m, given probable very depressed trading in clothing and home.

M&S are not the only ones warning this morning with pub group Wetherspoons, retail group Frasers (formerly Sports Direct), and estate agent Foxtons among those outlining the impact of Covid-19 on business.

Turning to markets, there was some respite on Thursday from the sharp sell-off that has rocked global markets since the escalation of the pandemic. Wall Street followed Europe higher after central banks moved to provide more support to economies.

Europe is expected to open higher again this morning:

Also today:

• 9.30am GMT: UK public sector finances data for February
• 2pm GMT: US existing home sales figures for February

Stick with us for all the latest updates.