US stocks suffer worst week since financial crisis after seven days of losses

Good morning, this is Louis Ashworth, taking over the blog for our usual coverage of the London trading session. I’ll be tracking the continued decline on European markets, and also bringing you the latest new of business, economics, money and tech.

Here’s what you need to know this 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 biggest one-day point drop ever, closing down 1,191 points at 25,760, while in London the FTSE 100 dropped another 3.5pc to 6796.4.

Asian markets spiralled downwards on Friday, tracking a collapse in New York and Europe as the coronavirus spread rapidly around the world with the WHO warning the deadly epidemic was now at a “decisive point”.

Tokyo and Jakarta were hammered more than four percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul and Bangkok tanked more than three percent each.

The casualties have put equities around the world on course to record their worst week since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago as investors run to the hills on fears the virus will smash the global economy.

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.