US markets are open for trading and the Nasdaq had already hit a record high.

Here are the initial prints:

• Dow falls 0.2% to 30,934 points
• S&P 500 rises 0.29% to 3,852 points
• Nasdaq hits another record high after opening 1% higher at 13,685.82 points

The economic blow from Covid-19 has cost workers around the world $3.7tn (£2.7tn) in lost earnings, after the pandemic wiped out four times the number of working hours lost in the 2008 financial crisis, according to the UN’s labour body.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) said women and younger workers had borne the brunt of job losses and reductions in hours, and warned that people in sectors hardest-hit by the crisis – such as hospitality and retail – risked being left behind when the economy recovers.

Sounding the alarm that entrenched levels of inequality risked becoming a defining feature of the economic rebound from Covid-19, the Geneva-based agency said that governments around the world needed to take urgent action to support those at the heart of the storm.

In its annual analysis of the global jobs market, it said 8.8% of working hours were lost in 2020 relative to the end of 2019, equivalent to 255m full-time jobs. This is approximately four times bigger than the damage suffered by workers as a consequence of the 2008-9 financial crisis.

These “massive losses” resulted in an 8.3% decline in global labour income, before government support measures are included, according to the ILO, equivalent to $3.7tn in earnings – about 4.4% of global GDP.

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Stocks have fallen further in the past two hours, with most major indices down more than 1%, as the prospect of extended or tougher Covid lockdowns threatens economic growth in the short term.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, says European stocks are also missing out on the excitement over US president Joe Biden’s stimulus plan, which is still making its way through Congress:

It would appear that European markets are not enjoying the benefits of the Biden spending hopes like their US counterparts as restriction fears are the dominant story on this side of the Atlantic.

There has been little in the way of fresh news to spark excitement. Last week, US stocks set fresh records on account of President Biden’s stimulus plans, which influenced the positive moves we saw in Asia overnight but the mood is a little duller in this part of the world.

France already has tough restrictions in place but there is speculation the country is heading for a renewed lockdown.

Concerns are circulating about the slow rate at which the EU is rolling out vaccinations.

In relation to the pandemic, things are a little more mixed in the UK as the distribution of the vaccine is going well by international standards but sentiment is tempered by talk of tougher overseas travel restrictions.

Retail trade union Usdaw is seeking urgent meetings with Debenhams’ administrators and calling on the government to do more to save high streets after the failed department store said it would close all stores following the brand’s sale to Boohoo.

Dave Gill, Usdaw National Officer, said:

It is devastating news for our high streets that Debenhams’ administrators have sold the company brand to an online only retailer.

Throughout Debenhams’ difficulties the company and then administrators have refused to engage with Usdaw, the staff are being treated appallingly.

The union wants the government to extend business rates relief and help with millions of pounds of unpaid rent while shops have been forced to close during the pandemic.

Gordon Fletcher of the University of Salford Business School says the Boohoo deal is proof that shoppers are becoming less tied to the brick and mortar presence of their favourite brands:

A very clear message is being broadcast. Brands are still important. Brands have credibility and reputation.

Consumers have strong emotional connections with brands. However, the importance of the bricks and mortar traditionally associated with retail brands has now fully waned.

This is not a new realisation that has only been discovered during the pandemic. However, the current lockdown situation has forced us to cut the final ties between our favourite brands and the physical high street.

Bricks and mortar are important but after the lockdown the brands that we will see will be very different. These will be the brands that bring peak experience and engagement - maximising the value of face-to-face contact - and they will not be fashion retailers.

The FT’s retail correspondent Jonathan Eley reflects on how fortunes have changed for Boohoo, Asos, Debenhams and Arcadia over the past 15 years:

Wall Street looks like it may ignore the direction of travel across European stocks and instead follow Asian indices higher on the back of US stimulus hopes:

• S&P 500 futures are up 0.3%
• Nasdaq futures are up 0.9%
• Dow futures are flat

President Joe Biden’s administration has reportedly stepped up pressure on Congress to pass the $1.9tn Covid stimulus bill.

The bill includes $160bn to bolster vaccination and testing efforts, and other health programs and $350bn for state and local governments, as well as $1tn in relief to families, via direct payments and unemployment insurance.

More news out of Germany this morning, after data showed a dip in business confidence in January.

According to draft documents seen by Reuters, the German government expects the country’s to recover to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2022.

It also points to a 7% budget deficit and a debt ratio of 72.5%, as Berlin is spending billions of euros to help cushion the blow of the Covid outbreak.

(In contrast, the UK’s debt ratio is sitting at around 99.4% of gross domestic product (GDP), which is the the highest debt ratio since 1962)

Online fashion retailer Asos is in exclusive talks to buy a number of the UK’s best-known high street brands including Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge.

The brands are part of Sir Philip Green’s fashion empire Arcadia which collapsed into administration last year.

If Asos can seal a deal it is likely to be bad news for thousands of staff and the high street store network as it operates as an online-only business. Arcadia Group as a whole employed 13,000 staff and had 500 stores across the UK when it entered administration in November.

The Guardian first revealed on Friday that Asos had emerged as a serious contender to buy the Topshop brand.

Administrators have been seeking buyers for Arcadia’s brands, which also include Dorothy Perkins and Burton. Evans, its plus-size clothing brand, was sold to City Chic Collective, an Australian retailer, for £23m.

High street rival Next, which was working with the US hedge fund Davidson Kempner, pulled out of the auction on Thursday. In a statement, the consortium said it had been “unable to meet the price expectations of the vendor” amid speculation that Topshop, Arcadia’s prime asset, could fetch between £250m and £300m.

Asos shares rose 6% after the announcement on Monday.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says Boohoo and Asos are likely to benefit from a strategy that involves “cherry picking” brands and assets from collapsed the Debenhams and Arcadia Group.

And for Boohoo, it could be its big break. The company has been trying to reclaim its reputation after an investigation by the Guardian revealed last year that workers in parts of its supply chain in Leicester may be being paid as little as £3 to £4 an hour. So bosses are likely to be relieved that investors are pushing stocks higher this morning.

Streeter says:

Boohoo aims to break into the retail big time with this deal. It marks quite a journey for the company which started as a fast fashion upstart and is now turning into a sprawling empire, by scooping up household names which have fallen into distress.

Showing just how far the once mighty have fallen, boohoo has only had to dip a little into its deep cash pockets to snap up the department store chain’s most precious assets. It’s paying £55m from its available cash balance which stood at £386.9m at the end of 2020.

Boohoo is turning its back on Debenhams entire store estate, seeing little value in bricks and mortar stores, as the shift to digital shopping intensifies during the pandemic.

Instead it believes that the brands and website will help it create the UK’s largest marketplace and position it to propel into international expansion.

It sees acquiring the home, beauty and sports assets sold by Debenhams as a big prize, allowing it to enter new markets, and expand from its pure fashion base.

DATA UPDATE: Germany’s Ifo Index shows a drop in business confidence in January.

The index dropped to 90.1 compared to consensus estimates for a reading of 91.8.

The measure is down from 92.1 in December, as the country suffers the effects of Germany’s second Covid-lockdown.

ITV’s business and economics editor notes how Lyttle has dodged questions about how many Debenhams jobs might be saved:

Lyttle says Boohoo will start reaching out to some of Debenham’s suppliers and partners in the coming days, to sort out whether they will maintain their ties with the brand following the takeover:

In terms of the third party relationships, we’ll be looking to work with the existing third party partners who are working with debenhams.com, and obviously we will be starting those conversations this week.

Boohoo CEO John Lyttle is giving a presentation to analysts on the Debenhams deal.

He seems to be leaving the door open for further deals as opportunities arise. It might not take long for more brands to come up for sale, as the high street continues to be battered by Covid lockdowns and the major shift to online shopping.

Lyttle says:

This [Debenhams deal] will be funded from our existing cash reserves, which stood at £387m on 31 of December, leaving a significant remaining cash balance to support further M&A opportunities as they arise

Lyttle adds that Boohoo will not take immediate control of the Debenhams website, letting stock run down before taking over:

The administrator will continue to operate the website for the next couple of months, while the inventory clears. And then we anticipate moving debenhams.com onto our platform to go live can just a couple of months.

My colleague Mark Sweney has the full Debenhams story, here:

The World Economic Forum’s annual meeting has had to ditch the Swiss mountains of Davos and move online this year.

Organisers have still managed to line up some heavy hitters, with tomorrow’s* programme featuring European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, German chancellor Angela Merkel and and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.

The full schedule for Tuesday* can be found here, but these are the highlights:

• 10.00am GMT: Special address by EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen

• 11.00am GMT: on climate with Alok Sharma

• 12.00pmGMT: Address by Angela Merkel

• 2.00pmGMT: Address by Emmanuel Macron

*CORRECTION: These highlights were for Tuesday’s schedule, not Monday.

European markets are broadly higher at the start of trading.

The FTSE 100 is up 0.2%, while the more domestically focused FTSE 250 is up more than 0.5%.

The French CAC 40 is up 0.4%, while Spain’s IBEX has jumped 0.6% and Italy’s FTSE MIB opened higher by 0.6%.

Germany’s DAX is up 0.5%.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 is also up 0.5%.

Boohoo is set to hold an investor and analyst call around 8:30am, so we’ll bring you updates as we get them. Stay tuned.

Boohoo’s executive chairman Mahmud Kamani is hoping the Debenham’s deal will give his group an edge in new areas including beauty, sport and homeware:

Our ambition is to create the UK’s largest marketplace. Our acquisition of the Debenhams brand is strategically significant as it represents a huge step which accelerates our ambition to be a leader, not just in fashion eCommerce, but in new categories including beauty, sport and homeware.

Meanwhile, Boohoo’s CEO John Lyttle said the group was taking advantage of the huge shift to online shopping:

The acquisition of the Debenhams brand is an important development for the group, as we seek to capture incremental growth opportunities arising from the accelerating shift to online retail.

We have developed a successful multi-brand direct-to-consumer platform that continues to disrupt the markets that we operate in.

The acquisition represents an exciting strategic opportunity to transform our target addressable market through the creation of an online marketplace that leverages Debenhams’ high brand awareness and traffic through the development of beauty and fashion partnerships connecting brands with consumers.