FTSE 100 hits one-year closing low, as Wall Street slides again – as it happened

Graeme Wearden

from on 2020-02-25 22:16 (#4ZTTZ)

European markets have suffered a second day of heavy losses as new coronavirus cases are reported

10.16pm GMT

Finally, here's our news story on today stock market turmoil:

10.16pm GMT

Jennifer Ellison, principal at B|O|S in San Francisco, told MarketWatch that the markets are in "one of those spirals,"

"Obviously, the story is about the spread of the coronavirus that's spooked investors. Investors don't know how bad it will get."

10.15pm GMT

Tech stocks had a bad day, with Apple losing over 3%.

Investors are very concerned that global supply chains are going to be badly hurt by Covid-19, if China's manufacturing doesn't return to normality soon.

10.12pm GMT

I think the Dow has just posted its fourth-biggest points drop ever.

So, following the 1,000+ point slump yesterday, it's clearly suffered its biggest two-day points decline ever.

The Dow's decline of 6.59% over the last 2 days is the 87th largest 2-day decline going back to 1900. $DJIA pic.twitter.com/RrRDqg75Ap

JUST IN: The Dow finished down 879 points, or about 3.2%. This comes just one day after the index fell more than 1,000 points and recorded its worst day in two years. https://t.co/Kp6pZw1Iuu pic.twitter.com/vVYE6Jc94K

9.42pm GMT

Here's a handy explanation of today's market mayhem, from Kyle Rodda of IG:

Global financial markets remain in a frenzy, as market participants price-in a potential global spread of the coronavirus. The latest volatility comes after the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warned US citizens to prepare for an "inevitable" outbreak of the coronavirus within the United States. The heightened vigilance in the US comes as countries such as Iran, Italy and South Korea announced yesterday another jump in the number of reported cases of the coronavirus.

Volatility climbs further, as coronavirus reality hits: Market participants are becoming resigned to the fact that the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus may extend longer than previously anticipated. The heightened level of uncertainty saw the US VIX spike to fresh 14 month-highs, to trade above the 28 level overnight. US stocks took another plunge as a result, with the S&P500 shedding around 3 per cent on Tuesday, paced by major falls in industrial, energy and materials stocks. The spill takes the S&P500's losses for the week to just shy of 7 per cent.

9.13pm GMT

Newsflash: Wall Street has suffered its second day of heavy losses.

The Dow has just closed, down 3.15%. That is a loss of 879 points, to 27,081, on top of the 1,000 shed in yesterday's rout.

DOW JONES down 8.4% from its recent high on 12th February. pic.twitter.com/KoVJ8qG5ft

8.51pm GMT

Wall Street is staggering to the finishing line, after a torrid session.

With 10 minutes left, the Dow is 789 points down at 27,171 (-2.82%), having been over 900 points south a few minutes earlier.,...

8.35pm GMT

The oil price has also fallen sharply today, hitting a two-week low.

Again, that reflects fears of a global slowdown.

West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery fell $1.53, or 3%, to settle at $49.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, for the lowest front-month contract finish since Feb. 10, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

April Brent crude dropped $1.35, or 2.4%, to end at $54.95 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. That was the lowest settlement since Feb. 11.

7.34pm GMT

Crumbs... with just ninety minutes to go, the Dow is flirting with its second quadruple-digit plunge in a row.

It's now down 900 points.

BREAKING: Dow plummets 900 points https://t.co/zVHWEwEOTL pic.twitter.com/LNw1WdG7dX

7.19pm GMT

7.16pm GMT

The worst-performing sectors in New York today are mining companies, industrial companies, banks and energy firms.

They all suffer when investors worry that the global economy is stumbling, meaning less demand for iron ore, oil and manufactured foods -- and higher debt defaults.

7.13pm GMT

.....Make that down 3%!

The Dow is now down 821 points this session, as the selloff intensifies dramatically.

7.09pm GMT

The US stock market is down 2.5% since Donald Trump tweeted that it was "starting to look very good to me!"

7.07pm GMT

A fresh wave of selling has knocked the Dow down by almost 700 points, or 2.5%, to 27,270.

That's its lowest level of 2020, and on track for its lowest close since the start of November last year.

US market with 2hrs of trade remaining:
Dow Jones -725pts or -2.5%
S&P -78pts or -2.4%
Nasdaq -203pts or -2.2%#Gold -1.7% to US$1,648.50/oz#Oil -2.5% to US$50.14/bl#ironore -1.2%% to US$90.10/t
10-yr treasury yield 1.31% (-5bps)
SPI -145pts or -2.2%#AUDUSD $0.66#ausbiz

7.01pm GMT

WH ECONOMIC ADVISER KUDLOW SAYS HE IS NOT HEARING FED WILL MAKE ANY PANIC MOVES DUE TO CORONAVIRUS

Not what the markets want to hear, Larry$DIA $SPY $QQQ pic.twitter.com/Udb5NW2UOl

6.59pm GMT

Despite Kudlow's best efforts, the Dow is now down 621 points today - knocking another 2.2% off the index.

6.56pm GMT

The White House has sent Larry Kudlow, head of the National Economic Council, into action to calm the market rout.

Kudlow has tried his best, telling CNBC that the US economy is "holding up nicely".

"We have contained this. I won't say [it's] air-tight, but it's pretty close to air-tight,"

"There will be some stumbles. We're looking at numbers; it's a little iffy,"

But at the moment, the numbers that we're looking at ... there's no supply disruptions out there yet."

Larry Kudlow says US has contained the coronavirus and the economy is holding up nicely https://t.co/LJKSIghL7q

This morning's classified coronavirus briefing should have been made fully open to the American people-they would be as appalled & astonished as I am by the inadequacy of preparedness & prevention.

6.41pm GMT

Ouch! The Dow is now down 2% today, having lost 579 points to trade at 27,381.

BREAKING: Dow falls 2% https://t.co/zVHWEwEOTL pic.twitter.com/7TGzTrP2cC

6.27pm GMT

Here's the message that sent Wall Street sliding again today:

U.S. CDC on coronavirus: "start planning for this, because as we've seen from the recent countries that have had community spread, when it hit in those countries, it has moved quite rapidly." #COVID19

US indices reacting. Dow Jones more than 500 points lower extending yesterday's quadruple digit loss. https://t.co/4LOxtcgLXs

6.22pm GMT

While stocks are slumping again, Wall Street's fear index is rising.

The VIX index, which tracks volatility, has jumped by over 8% today:

#DOW 27425.56 -1.91%#SPX 3165.75 -1.86%#NDX 8941.56 -1.52%#RTY 1584.24 -2.69%#VIX 27.15 +8.47%

6.21pm GMT

Newsflash: US government bond prices have just hit a record high, as investors dash for safety.

This has driven the yield, or interest rate, on 10-year Treasury bills down to just 1.32%, its lowest ever level.

10-year Treasury yield drops to record low of 1.32% as coronavirus hits the global economy https://t.co/PQffJByKVt pic.twitter.com/MQkxWwQ2MX

6.04pm GMT

Back in New York, stocks are hitting fresh lows as Americans are warned to prepare for Covid-19.

The Dow Jones industrial average is now down 522.51 points, or 1.87%, in a fresh bout of anxious selling.

Dow hits session lows, off nearly 500 points https://t.co/rPJTk7Hwie pic.twitter.com/VvwdQrfJ6f

"We really want to prepare the American public for the possibility that their lives will be disrupted because of this pandemic"

5.55pm GMT

Sam Tombs of Pantheon Economics reckons the UK economy is less vulnerable to the coronavirus crisis than other countries, for several reasons including:

5.35pm GMT

JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon has, it seems, found a reason to be cheerful about coronavirus:

Dimon says "very hard to tell" coronavirus impact:
"I have this nightmare in Davos all of us went there and got it and then we just spread it. The only good news from that is it might just kill the elite."

5.30pm GMT

The Financial Times have done a good piece about the fall in junk bond prices -- which is another sign that investors are very worried.

Here's a flavour:

Fears over the impact of the coronavirus outbreak sparked a sharp sell-off in junk bonds on Monday, pushing borrowing costs for the riskiest energy companies to their highest level in more than three years.

The additional yield, or spread, on a widely watched high-yield energy bond index run by Ice Data Services rose to 8.35 percentage points above benchmark US Treasuries, its highest level since August 2016, as investors reacted to news that the virus had spread further in countries from Italy to Iran.

Sharp sell-off in junk bonds as coronavirus fears grow https://t.co/fNOP2LhtWF via @financialtimes @JARennison

5.20pm GMT

Every European stock market has suffered heavy losses again today.

Switzerland was one of the worst hit, after it recorded its first coronavirus case today.

5.13pm GMT

I've just double-checked...and indeed, almost 35bn was wiped off the FTSE 100 today.

That means the index has shed 97bn this week already.

4.52pm GMT

Newsflash: Britain's FTSE 100 index of top shares has ended the day at its lowest closing level in a year.

The Footsie has closed at 7017 points, down 138 points or 1.94% today. That's on top of the 247 points shed on Monday.

The colossal losses that were racked up yesterday encouraged some bargain hunting at the start of today's session, but that old concerns crept in, hence why we are offside again. The coronavirus fears have gripped European stocks as dealers are worried that this part of the world could go down the Wuhan route in terms of being on lockdown.

Yesterday, Europe-focused airlines like easyJet and Ryanair posted painful losses, and they are in the red again today, and that tells you everything you need to know about tourism sentiment.

4.34pm GMT

How bad could coronavirus, and the market selloff, get?

Well..... Simon Powell of investment bank Jefferies fears that the latest cases in South Korea, Italy and Iran point to the risk of a global pandemic.

Originally, doctors in the US were advised not to test people unless they had been to China or had contact with someone who had been diagnosed with the disease. Within the past two weeks, the CDC said it would start to use the national flu surveillance tracking infrastructure to test patients who have flu symptoms for COVID-19 in five cities across the US. But elsewhere, tests are still not widely available. Recently, the Association of Public Health Laboratories said that only California, Nebraska, and Illinois had the capacity to test people for the virus. Compare this with Singapore and S. Korea, which have carried out significant testing. High case complication rates could swamp medical systems - According to recent studies we have seen from Wuhan, the case-complication rate (number of cases requiring ICU level of care) could be between 5-10%, suggesting that if there is a global break out, we could see hospitals swamped with acute cases.

Our analysis of the WHO's published criteria for assessing if this is a pandemic shows these have been met already. What might an outbreak in the USA do to markets? - Imagine trying to quarantine a large city in the USA for a month, similar to how the Chinese have shut down Wuhan, or the way the Italians are trying to ring-fence 10 towns near Milan. Our working hypothesis is that it wouldn't work, and could cause panic on a scale that would spook markets.

4.22pm GMT

Stocks are really on the slide in New York.

The Dow has lost another 1.3%, or 374 points, on top of the 1,000 shed on Monday.

4.06pm GMT

Nearly every share on the FTSE 100 is down today, as fears of a Covid-19 pandemic ripple through the City again.

3.59pm GMT

This latest selloff comes as new coronavirus cases are reported in Switzerland, Austria and Croatia.....

3.51pm GMT

As things stand, the FTSE 100 index is on track to lose roughly another 30bn today, on top of the 62bn shed yesterday.

Every sector is down, led by consumer cyclicals (-2%), telecoms (-2%), energy (-2%), utilities (-1.9%) and banks (-1.9%).

3.41pm GMT

It's turning into another rout!

Britain's FTSE 100 index is now down another 130 points, or 1.7%, at 7030, as we enter the final hour of trading.

3.16pm GMT

Wall Street's rally is running out of gas - just like Europe's short-lived 'recovery' this morning.

The S&P 500 and the Dow are now flat, quickly losing their early 0.5% bounce from 45 minutes ago.

3.14pm GMT

Luxury goods firms are expecting to lose tens of billions of pounds of sales because of the crisis.

The main concern is business in China, where sales are plummeting due to widespread store closures and shoppers hunkering down in their homes. The survey estimates as many as 10 million to 15 million products originally destined for China could go unsold, forcing companies to redirect those items to other parts of the world. Luxe outerwear company Moncler, for instance, said on a recent earnings call with investors and analysts that it had frozen shipments to Greater China and sent them instead to regions such as Europe.

But there's also worry over a worldwide impact. Chinese tourists are big spenders on luxury goods and contribute to sales in cities from Tokyo to New York. Many have put off flying or face travel restrictions. In Paris, retailers have noticed a marked decline in shopping Chinese travelers.

Luxury companies have already warned of lost sales amounting to tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. https://t.co/aSVZFljQL4

3.05pm GMT

Just in: US consumer confidence has risen, but isn't actually as strong as expected.

The Conference Board's index of consumer morale has come in at 130.7, rather weaker than the 132 which economists expected.

Consumer Confidence dips on lower present situation reading but expectations rise. Survey taken before coronavirus news became widespread.

Case-Shiller: National House Price Index increased 3.8% year-over-year in December https://t.co/bxqJwMmouf pic.twitter.com/49g2SiDu2a

2.57pm GMT

The coronavirus could trigger recessions across the global economy unless it is contained soon, fears Dr. Kerstin Braun, president of Stenn Group (which provides trade finance).

We already know from our own research that half of firms in the UK and US (46% and 45% respectively) predict a recession in 2020, while a further third (37% and 35%) predict a global recession this year. These predictions could very much become a reality if the virus isn't contained and every week we're seeing news of another countries' GDP hit. Tourism dependent countries, particularly those in Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia could be worst affected, after bookings have dried up from the globe-trotting Chinese who account for over 15% of the world's tourism spending.

US imports are being held hostage at the ports when coming in via ship. Vessels need to wait 14 days until they are able to access the port and offload, slowing down US imports. For China, where the outbreak first began, the virus could topple China's dominant manufacturing position and companies will need to diversifying their supply chains. This could lead to more balanced global trade relationships, particularly if emerging manufacturing countries such as Vietnam are about to capitalise on the opportunity. We know Chinese GDP in the first and second quarter will be impacted by the effects of the Coronavirus and its likely supply chains will move to Vietnam. We'll also see more advanced goods such as tech going to India, and more apparel going to Bangladesh.

"The automotive industry will also be affected by the Coronavirus. Supply chains are slowing down in China as manufacturing is not at its full capacity. Factories are opening back up but with only about 50% of the workforce. Given the automotive industry is already struggling to adopt to the lower and changing demand for cars, particularly as more people are opting for electronic vehicles, the Coronavirus is likely the automotive industry could be soon hit."

2.45pm GMT

Breaking away from coronavirus.... more than 1,800 jobs are at risk at supermarket chain Tesco, as it shakes up its bakeries operations.

The Press Association has the details:

Tesco is to slash more than 1,800 jobs as part of changes to bakeries in its large supermarkets.

The retailer said 1,816 bakery staff are at risk of redundancy as part of the overhaul, which will take place from May.

#Breaking More than 1,800 Tesco staff are set to lose their jobs as part of changes to in-store bakeries, the supermarket has announced

2.41pm GMT

Shares in US biotech firm Moderna have surged by 20% in early trading in New York.

Last night, the Boston-based firm became the first company to release a potential coronavirus vaccine, which it has sent to the US National Institutes of Health to be tested in humans.

Something to remember in all of this. Humanity fights back

"Moderna's turnaround time in producing the first batch of the vaccine-co-designed with NIAID, after learning the new virus's genetic sequence in January-is a stunningly fast response to an emerging outbreak".

2.35pm GMT

DING DING! The opening bell is ringing on Wall Street, as traders return to their desks after Monday's whopping selloff.

2.26pm GMT

Upscale American department store chain Macy's is starting to feel the impact of coronavirus.

After reporting results today, the company said it expects a "small impact" on sales in the current quarter, due to lower tourism levels.

On coronavirus impact: Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette says 70 Macy's stores have a strong Asian business and have seen a slowdown in sales. But he said nothing to be concerned about yet. Those stores include store in Flushing,Queens and San Francisco's Union Square. $M #Coronavirius

1.00pm GMT

US shoe vendor Wolverine World Wide has warned that the coronavirus will hurt its profitability, by disrupting its supply chain and cutting sales.

In recent years, the Company has diversified its supply chain away from China and in 2020, China is expected to represent less than 20% of its global production, down from approximately 40% in fiscal 2019.

The Company is continuing to monitor and adjust to the fluid coronavirus situation, and recognizes that there could be additional future impact to the global supply chain or customer demand.

12.39pm GMT

The coronavirus is having a painful impact on Italy, forcing several towns to lock down.

The Italian economy was already on the brink of recession, and financial analyst Kathleen Brooks of Minerva fears it could be driven in to a deep crisis:

If Covid-19 continues to expand, the the most worrying thing is how long it will take for public confidence to return to normal once the outbreak dies down. This could lead to a wide economic impact and may be priced in to financial markets in coming weeks

The economic impact of Covid-19 could last a lot longer than the typical fly season. Italy's economy is v weak, tourism is important to the economy of northern Italy, it also has v high debt levels, this could lead to a severe crisis for Italy's economy.

12.28pm GMT

The coronavirus crisis is also causing ructions in the bond market.

The cost of insuring junk-rated company debt has hit its highest level since October, Bloomber's Katie Linsell points out. That reflects concerns that a pandemic could leave some firms unable to repay their debts.

Coronavirus continuing to shake markets today - credit risk on junk-rated borrowers now at highest since October. More on @TheTerminal pic.twitter.com/KXt0n3xx8m

12.05pm GMT

After another tough morning, 87 of the 100 companies on the FTSE 100 are in the red as lunchtime approaches.

11.01am GMT

Neil MacKinnon, Global Macro Strategist at VTB Capital, says investors are right to be very worried:

"The fact of the matter is that the virus has spread outside of China and is present in the major economies. China is still in lockdown and the economy is 50% operative, according to estimates from Bloomberg.

Once travel restrictions inside China are lifted there is a risk of the virus increasing again and/or a reluctance of people to return to work. This looks like more of an 'L-shaped recovery' as far as the Chinese economy is concerned and full-capacity working is unlikely to happen before the third quarter.

10.57am GMT

Newsflash! Britain's FTSE 100 has hit a new four-month low, as markets slide again.

The blue-chip index is now down 55 points at 7100, an 0.8% drop. That's its lowest level since 4th October, adding to the 247 points lost yesterday.

Equity markets in Europe enjoyed a rebound in early trading in the wake of yesterday's bloodbath of a session, but the positive move was short-lived. The brutal losses endured yesterday coaxed a few buyers out of the woodwork, but given that equity benchmarks are back in the red suggests that sentiment is still sour.

The coronavirus crisis in Italy remains at the forefront of traders' minds. Dealers are fearful the health emergency will spread within Italy, and beyond its borders. Investment sentiment is fragile as there is the possibility of major disruption across Europe, so traders aren't taking any chances.

Financial markets reactions to yesterday's coronavirus wakeup call wiped $1 tn of global equity market cap over pandemic fears. Italy plunged >5% and Dow 30 sustained 3rd largest points drop in history! pic.twitter.com/iOr0x6ozyX

10.49am GMT

Hopes of a recovery on Wall Street have fizzled out too....

The rally in U.S. stock futures overnight has nearly entirely evaporated https://t.co/fzSlwA2cVQ

10.43am GMT

Hong Kong has posted some shockingly bad trade data today, which show that its economy is sinking deeper into recession.

Hong Kong's exports plummeted the most in more than a decade in January, down 22.7% year-on year. Imports dropped by 16.4%, their 14th monthly decline in a row.

If this is a foreshadow of things to come, I think investors across the globe will need to fasten in as things could get incredulously worse before improving

10.33am GMT

Donald Trump then claimed that the stock markets would hit fresh heights if he were elected, but tumble if he loses in November.

Addressing session with CEOs from India Inc @POTUS says 'If I win the markets (in US) will jump thousands & thousands of points, if not the markets will crash. I feel we are going to win the elections. Democrats out of control' @CNBCTV18Live @CNBCTV18News #Trump

*TRUMP SAYS IF HE LOSES U.S.ELECTION THERE WILL BE A STOCK MARKET CRASH "LIKE YOU NEVER HAVE SEEN BEFORE " (not dems - the virus shock is causing massive disruption and repricing growth - thus reprice valuations)

10.21am GMT

Just in: Donald Trump is discussing yesterday's market tumble, on his trip to New Delhi.

*TRUMP SAYS MARKET HAD `ONE BAD DAY' YESTERDAY

TRUMP SAYS DROP IN STOCK MARKETS ON MONDAY WAS SOMETHING BAD BUT "FEEL WE ARE IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE IN THE U.S. IN TERMS OF CORONAVIRUS"

10.08am GMT

The stock markets don't appear to share Donald Trump's view that the coronavirus is under control, says Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades.

He writes:

Investors remain stuck between their appetite for risk and the blurry impact of coronavirus which is leading to mixed market sentiment this week. President Trump tried to reassure investors by saying the US economy was still sound, robust and not yet impacted by the deadly virus.

These words were also underlined by NEC Director Kudlow who even said investors should "seriously considering buying the dip". However, these words were not enough for most investors who are already fearing, if not a direct, at least an indirect impact on US imports/exports in the coming days or weeks.

The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!

9.58am GMT

European stock markets are now all in the red again, as coronavirus fears rear up again.

In another worrying development, authorities in Tenerife are testing hundreds of tourists after a visitor fell ill at a Canary Islands hotel.

9.42am GMT

Today's flurry of corporate warnings highlights the damage that a Covid-19 pandemic would have on the global economy -- both on supply chains and on customer demand.

Olivier Blanchard, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, fears that governments will struggle to cushion this blow:

1. The next few days will likely see an avalanche of analyses of the economic effects of the corona virus. Here are a few points, building on a previous thread. Basic point: Anti virus measures aim at the core of economic organization, the division of labor.

2. We have to assume that we shall see repeated and localized pockets of infection around the world for some time to come (maybe until vaccines come on line). These in turn will lead to quarantines, border closures, and disruption of economic relations.

3. Because the remedies are extreme, even small risks of infection and of death can have a drastic effect on economic activity.

From a macro viewpoint, it is an unusual supply shock. What can policy do?

4. Fiscal policy cannot increase production where the source is firm closures or supply chain disruptions. But it can help fund the means to fight the epidemic, be it health measures, hiring health personnel, helping suppliers of medical equipment.

5. If panic leads to a large decrease in demand, a fiscal expansion may be able, if not to get output back to its previous level, at least to maintain higher output.

6. In the same way, monetary policy can help sustain demand. But it can help the financial sector help firms in trouble, either because of low sales or supply disruptions.

Bottom line: Even if the death cost is limited, the economic cost may be large.

9.17am GMT

European stocks are under pressure again, because Italian authorities have just announced the first positive coronavirus case in the South of Italy.

What was largely a Chinese issue to resolve has soon become an international problem, with European eyes transfixed on Italian efforts to curb the spread of the virus. With European borders open and the Italian 'patient zero' still unknown, things could easily turn from bad to worse in the efforts to keep the coronavirus at bay.

With tourism to and from China plummeting, there is little reason to expect any different in Europe if this virus spreads throughout the continent. The declines seen for largely European-focused airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair highlight the increasing fear that we will see travel locked down closer to home, with obvious knock-on implications for consumer activity should that occur

9.01am GMT

The rally has fizzled out!

Britain's FTSE 100 has dropped back to yesterday's two-month closing low of 7163 points, and the Stoxx 600 index is slightly negative.

9.00am GMT

Another specialist UK manufacturer, Morgan Advanced Materials, also expects to lose millions of pounds due to Covid-19.

Morgan makes heat-resistant products such as thermal ceramics, crucibles and high-tech seals for use in extreme temperatures and corrosive environments.

Industrial materials maker Morgan Advanced Materials has closed its manufacturing facilities in China because of the coronavirus outbreak and expects a hit to 2020 revenue and headline operating profit as a result, the company said on Tuesday.

The British company, which generates around 10% of its revenue from China, said the outbreak will take around 3.5m ($4.5m) off its headline operating profit and about 7m pounds off its revenue in 2020.

8.42am GMT

UK engineering and consulting firm Ricardo has issued a profit warning, due to the coronavirus.

Ricardo, which focuses on the transport, energy and scarce resources sectors, has told investors that full-year earnings will suffer a 'material' hit because of the Coronavirus' disruptive impact on its China auto and rail operations.

As we start the second half of the year, we have seen increased headwinds in the automotive sector which we anticipate will lead to suppressed order intake in our US, EMEA and China Automotive businesses.

The Coronavirus outbreak...has already had an operationally disruptive impact on our Automotive and Rail operations in China and we anticipate continuing disruption to client engagement, project delivery and business development in the coming months in mainland China and surrounding countries. Based on the issues highlighted above we are anticipating material impact to our forecast second half profits and thus full year

8.30am GMT

European stock markets have opened a little higher after Monday's rout, but it looks very fragile.

The EU-wide Stoxx 600 index is up 0.5% this morning, having tumbled 3% yesterday. Germany's DAX and France's CAC are up around 0.6%.

8.26am GMT

The number of cases of Covid-19 worldwide has now hit 80,000 - our main liveblog on the crisis has all the details:

8.20am GMT

UK specialist chemicals firm Croda has also told the City that the coronavirus crisis could hurt its business.

At this time, to the best of our knowledge, no Croda employees have been infected by the virus. Our sales offices have reopened, as have our two production units, albeit with more limited operations than usual. China represents 6% of Croda's Core Business sales, 2% of Group production and a limited component of our raw material supply chain.

However, there is potential for some disruption to customer and consumer demand. We will continue to monitor the impact.

8.12am GMT

Shares in UK engineering firm Meggitt have fallen by 4.5% at the start of trading, after it warned that the coronavirus crisis will hit its growth.

Meggitt, which makes components for the aerospace, defence and energy markets, told shareholders that its key markets will suffer from the spread of Covid-19.

Sector specific factors including the production halt of the 737 MAX and supply chain disruption, as well as the wider macroeconomic impact of COVID-19 are expected to hold back margin progression in the short-term.

7.47am GMT

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Dow Jones closes down 1,000 points amid growing coronavirus fears. https://t.co/Vo1OFAdWUO pic.twitter.com/V6YwJnO2RW

There is no question financial markets are coming round to the realisation that this particular crisis is likely to have a slightly longer shelf life than many thought was the case a couple of weeks ago, however flu outbreaks are hardly anything new. They happen every year and according to the World Health Organisation flu kills up to 650,000 a year, yet markets are reacting to an outbreak that has so far only affected a fraction of that number.

That is not to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak, given how little we know about it, but it could be argued that the reaction of governments to the outbreak in closing borders and restricting movement is actually making things worse, as well as sowing confusion and fear amongst their populations.

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