France launches €100bn stimulus plan to drive Covid-19 recovery - business live

Graeme Wearden

from on 2020-09-03 20:30 (#57PEQ)

US stock market is suffering its worst day since June, as Apple and Tesla lead stock markets into the red

Earlier:

9.30pm BST

US traders can now catch their collectives breath after the choppiest trading session in several weeks.

It wasn't as dramatic as the massive selloffs back in February and March (which still give me the shivers), but certainly a volatile day.

9.26pm BST

Today's losses mean the Dow is slightly negative for 2020, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index is still up 27% since January.

9.22pm BST

Here's our US business editor Dominic Rushe on today's market selloff:

Stock markets have lost some of their spectacular gains made over the past several months, as investors sold off high-flying tech companies and worried about the continuing crisis in the US jobs market.

In New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 808 points, or 2.78%, after passing 29,000 for the first time since February on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was down 3.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4.9%.

9.19pm BST

Worryingly, the amount of volatility in the markets has also risen.

Investing.com has the details:

A sharp rise in volatility also rattled investors, with the CBOE Volatility Index, the so-called fear index, surging 25% to a nearly two-month high.

Energy joined the selloff late as oil prices struggled amid ongoing concerns over the strength of crude demand.

Dow in Biggest Slump Since June as Tech Bulls Scatter on Volatility Spike - https://t.co/Hm3acLByWb

9.17pm BST

Ding ding! The closing bell has rung, and the US stock market has officially posted its biggest one-day drop since 11 June.

Although the Dow Jones industrial average did claw its way back slightly in the last few minutes, there are still substantial losses out there.

The S&P notches its biggest one-day decline since 11th June, with tech leading the way lower, as the index closes down 3.52%

For context, we're now back where we were last Tuesday.

Crikey what a sell off on many major indices globally. Tesla down 10%. Apple losing $180bn mcap. S&P, NASDAQ, DJ all down significantly. So where are investors going?

Stocks fell sharply on Thursday, retreating from all-time highs as tech - the market leader since the rebound began in late March - suffered its biggest drop in months.
The Dow fell 2.79%.
The S&P 500 was down 3.52%.
The NASDAQ fell 4.96%. https://t.co/fFAhLzo6ra pic.twitter.com/qsrQnfld85

8.56pm BST

Just five minutes to go until the closing bell....

The Nasdaq is currently down over 5% and on pace for its largest one-day decline from a record high in its history.

.. there have only been nine other days where the index dropped over 2.5% the day after closing at a record high." - @bespokeinvest

8.38pm BST

With 30 minutes to go, the Dow Jones Industrial average is now down a hefty 1,025 points at 28,074, down 3.3%.

Unless it recovers, the Dow could post its first quadruple-digit loss since 11 June.

BREAKING: Dow falls more than 1,000 points https://t.co/JE5L2MEhvd pic.twitter.com/I3x1gWtwDy

NEW YORK (AP) - Dow Jones Industrial Average falls as much as 1,000 points as a steep drop in tech companies pulls rest of market lower.

8.34pm BST

Tesla continues to slide tonight, now down 9.6% at $404.

That means Elon Musk's electric self-driving car company has lost almost 20% of its value since Monday night! Shares had surged to a record high at the start of the week, after Tesla split its stock - from $2,210 to $442.

8.28pm BST

It's important not to get carried away about today's losses.

Sure, these are big daily moves. If you're a $2.2 trillion company like Apple, a 7% plunge wipes out lots of value. Roughly $150bn, which is as much as Unilever (the biggest company in the FTSE) is worth today.

NYSE FANG+ index down 6% today, here's how that looks on its five-year price chart: pic.twitter.com/aSiuaDjEg2

Seven stocks in the Nasdaq 100 are down more than 10% from their intraday highs YESTERDAY. pic.twitter.com/webVDrgyDj

8.15pm BST

Little less than 50 minutes left of trading:
Dow down 932 points or -3.2%
S&P down 3.9%
Nasdaq down 5.3%

8.03pm BST

Every sector of the Dow has fallen today, with technology down 5.6%, consumer cyclicals losing 2.8% and industrial stocks off 2.5%.

Apple remains the top faller on the storied index, down 7% at $122 - its lowest level since the stock split last weekend, followed by Microsoft (-5.8%) and new arrival Salesforce (-5.4%).

8.00pm BST

There's no sign of a pick-up on Wall Street.

With an hour to go, the Dow is now down a chunk 900 points, or just over 3%.

BREAKING: Dow falls 900 points https://t.co/9SuZ51rIaj pic.twitter.com/nTuposcpk2

7.59pm BST

Here's our news story about the drop in US jobless claims... and the methodological change behind it:

7.27pm BST

The futures market is currently suggesting that the UK FTSE 100 will open lower on Friday.

After falling 90 points today to 5850, the Footsie is currently down another 30 points in futures trading - which would take it to a new three-month low.

FTSE close at 5850 slap back on the 38.2% retracement of the Mar-Jun rally, futures indicate pressure to downside and potential trip to 50% level around 5650 is now on pic.twitter.com/24Oa9f4D7e

7.08pm BST

With less than two hours trading to go, US stock indices are wallowing at their lowest points of the day:

7.03pm BST

Tech shares are sinking today because investors are questioning the sustainability of lofty valuations racked up this year, writes Bloomberg's Claire Ballentine.

Frankly, the deeper the pullback in tech, the healthier is is for the overall market," said Alec Young, chief investment officer at Tactical Alpha LLC. The market was overbought, there were too many people chasing the tech names. It's all healthy. The valuations have been stretched."

The Cboe Volatility Index -- a measure of expected price swings for the S&P 500 Index known as Wall Street's fear gauge" -- rose to the highest level since July. Bitcoin fell as much as 7.6%.

6.45pm BST

Here's the Financial Times's take:

A sharp sell-off among the world's largest technology shares sent the US stock market tumbling on Thursday, marking an abrupt change of course for companies that had driven the rally to record highs in recent days.

Apple shares sank more than 6 per cent in afternoon trading in New York, while Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft all fell more than 4 per cent. There were even bigger drops for previous superstar stocks including Tesla and Zoom Video Communications.

Tech stocks fall sharply as Wall Street slips from all-time peak https://t.co/kSRN1KRYXL via @financialtimes

6.41pm BST

Esty Dwek, head of global macro strategy for Natixis Investment Managers, has called today's sell-off a healthy breather', Marketwatch reports.

Dwek argues that the long-term argument for holding tech shares is intact:

Tech stocks, and the overall market, hadn't really had a bad day since June, so this is a healthy breather. It was never just going to be a straight line up.

But the long-term structural support for technology has not changed and support for equities has not either."

6.36pm BST

This handy heatmap shows the big fallers today:

$AAPL $MSFT $FB $GOOGL $AMZN pic.twitter.com/3C6ldfU5tX

6.17pm BST

Time for a quick recap, as US traders catch their breath and perhaps grab some lunch.

Stock markets have taken a tumble in the US and Europe, triggered by a sharp sell-off in technology stocks.

DOW TUMBLES MORE THAN 800 POINTS, OR NEARLY 3%, AS APPLE LEADS TECH SHARES LOWER https://t.co/ZWLxRkzIIQ $DIA $AAPL pic.twitter.com/0izboanFJe

5.59pm BST

Today's market slide will not be well received in the White House.

Last night, president Trump tweeted excitedly that the Dow Jones had hit 29,000 points for the first time since February:

The Dow Jones Industrial just closed above 29,000! You are so lucky to have me as your PresidentWith Joe Hiden' it would crash

5.56pm BST

There was another reason for the stonking stock market rally since April -- the massive money-printing programme launched by the US central bank, as it cut interest rates back to near zero.

And funnily enough, one senior policymaker has just dropped a hint that the Federal Reserve really isn't in any hurry to reverse that policy.

As long as we see the trajectory moving in ways that suggest that we are not spiraling too far away from our target, I'm comfortable just letting the economy run and letting it play out."

BOSTIC SAYS FED IS TRYING TO DO THE BEST IT CAN TO SUPPORT THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE A POSITION IN THE STOCK MARKET

5.46pm BST

Today's selloff could be quite disconcerting for the new army of retail investors who have been riding the markets higher.

Thanks to apps like Robinhood, more people have been buying stocks this year - and often picking winners such as the tech sector. Apple and Tesla's stock splits encouraged this -- it made it cheaper to buy just a few shares, even though the actual company wasn't more valuable.

Over the past few weeks, the fear of missing out on an unceasing equity rally has increasingly been expressed through call options - contracts that give the right to buy at a fixed point in future - rather than straight equity longs.

That limits the amount at risk and gives users the ability to capture rallies. It has been supplemented by more downside tail protection" aimed at safeguarding portfolios from sharp drops. With that, the Vix volatility index has decoupled from equity indices, adding to signals that a large market correction, should one materialise, would encourage more professional selling that could overwhelm the buy-the-dip retail investor.

In analyzing the extent pf this morning's #selloff in #stocks (the #NASDAQ was down as much as 5%), as well as its abruptness, it's important to recall not just the speed of the prior move up but also what's been happening in the #derivative #markets (below from Tuesday's @FT ... pic.twitter.com/ksA3fKWP5h

5.40pm BST

After a bruising morning on Wall Street, and an alarming late slide in Europe, here's the state of play:

5.33pm BST

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin is also caught up in this selloff, currently down $700 or 6.2% at $10,671.

Amid this tech rout, Bitcoin is getting clobbered.

A key thing this year is that both in the short term and the long term, Bitcoin has behaved very similarly to other traditional assets, like tech stocks and gold https://t.co/OnlxFqq2At pic.twitter.com/r2JDJuNAYY

5.20pm BST

Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at ThinkMarkets, says investors had been warned to expect a tech selloff (although timing these things is rather tricky...).

Well, the warning signs were there after technology stocks kept pushing higher and the rally on the Nasdaq almost turned vertical. We have been seeing increased options volatility and valuations were becoming overstretched for some of the megacap technology shares.

What's more, momentum indicators such as the Relative Strength Index on the major indices had reached extreme overbought levels, meaning even the most bullish speculators chasing momentum would have found it difficult to justify buying at such extreme levels.

5.19pm BST

As you can see here, the Nasdaq index has enjoyed a spectacular run since the market crash ended in late March.

5.12pm BST

Randy Frederick, vice-president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, also reckons the sell-off is partly driven by profit taking:

He says (via Reuters):

Some of the stocks have gotten a little pricey, and what the actual cause is to spark this selloff is difficult to say.

The leading sector for quite a long time has been the Nasdaq, which is very heavily weighted in technology stocks so people just saw this as an opportunity to take the profits off the table."

5.03pm BST

Salesforce, the cloud-based CRM software giant, is also caught up in today's rout.

Its shares are down 5%, which sounds serious until you remember that they surged 25% last week after it reported strong results.

4.54pm BST

It's a similar picture on the S&P 500 -- where tech companies like Juniper, nVidia and AMD are the major fallers today.

Many of these companies have been stock market darlings for months, as they've seen their sales boosted by the move towards remote working (and more time at home playing computer games, in nNivia's case).

4.51pm BST

European tech stocks have taken a hammering too, plunging 3.9% in the biggest fall since late April.

Home meal delivery companies Hellofresh (-10%) and Delivery Hero (-7.8%) were badly hit, along with semiconductor firms STMicro (-6.9%) and Dialog (-7.6%).

4.45pm BST

Today's rout has driven the UK stock market down to its lowest closing level since mid-May.

The FTSE 100, which has been rallying this morning, turned south in late trading and ended 90 points lower at 5850. That means the Footsie is 22% down for the year, having suffered badly in the pandemic.

4.38pm BST

David Madden of CMC Markets says traders are turning their backs on tech stocks, and banking profits following the huge rally since March.

In some cases, for good reasons:

Tesla shares are in the red. The stock closed lower in the past two sessions. It was reported that Baillie Gifford, an investment management group, trimmed their stake to below 5%, from 6.32%. The fund decided to cut its shareholding in the auto-maker because the recent bullish move inflated its exposure to the stock.

Smartsheet shares are offside today in the wake of the earnings miss that was announced last night. The second quarter loss per share was 22 cents, while the consensus estimate was for a loss per share of 16 cents. Revenue jumped by 41% to $91.2 million and that topped the $86.6 million forecast. It is worth noting the stock briefly set an intra-day record high yesterday in advance of the figures, so traders had high hopes ahead of the announcement.

4.34pm BST

The selloff may partly be triggered by today's US jobless claims report, and new fears of a trade war.

As covered earlier, the number of Americans signing on for unemployment benefit fell last week, but remained worryingly high at 881,000. The near 19% surge in the US trade deficit has also given traders a jolt.

Too many Americans need benefits and this will likely remain the case for the rest of the year.

The US trade deficit also expanded to the widest level since 2008, a troubling sign that US-China tensions are about to heat up even further. President Trump campaigned in 2016 that trade wars are good, and easy to win, so financial markets will look to see if he turns up the pressure against Beijing.

4.28pm BST

This is turning into a serious rout.

After many weeks of generally rising markets, the bourses are a sea of red again -- with the tech-focused Nasdaq index now down a whopping 5%.

BREAKING: Nasdaq extends plunge to more than 5%, S&P 500 slides more than 3.5%, as tech stocks sink https://t.co/9SuZ51rIaj pic.twitter.com/wj35YgQlMx

4.14pm BST

Shares in Apple, the world's most valuable company, have fallen by 5% today.

At $124, Apple's shares are now below the level at which they split last week (investors got four cheaper shares for each old one).

Major indexes hit session lows amid tech sell-off; Nasdaq slides more than 3% as Apple plunges 5%https://t.co/9SuZ51rIaj pic.twitter.com/Gp8ljUca0E

4.10pm BST

Although today's selloff is chunky, it only takes the Nasdaq down to a one-week low....

*NASDAQ SET FOR BIGGEST ONE-DAY PERCENTAGE FALL SINCE JUNE 11, LAST DOWN ALMOST 4%$QQQ $NDX pic.twitter.com/mcFz0WKb1c

4.06pm BST

The sight of Wall Street tumbling sharply has hit nerves in Europe.

The FTSE 100 has now swiftly lost 45 points, or 0.75%, in late afternoon trading. Mining stocks (sensitive to global growth) are among the main fallers, along with consumer-focused firms like Ocado, and Reckitt Benckiser.

3.57pm BST

All three US stock indices are now in the red, and heading for their biggest falls in over two month.

Worst day for:

* Dow since July 23
* S&P since June 26
* Nasdaq since June 11

(via @peterschack) @CNBC

3.41pm BST

The tech selloff is accelerating, sending the Nasdaq down by around 3%.

It's on track for its worst day since late June (although it's not had many bad days recently...)

OOPS! Nasdaq drops almost 3% as the rotation away from high-flying tech stocks gained steam. pic.twitter.com/79NqsR88Pk

The NASDAQ is really getting clobbered. Worst day right now since June 26 https://t.co/OnlxFqq2At pic.twitter.com/0WsbmqfMad

3.28pm BST

The stock market rally in Europe is fizzling out too.

The FTSE 100 index is now down by 4 points at 5937, with mining company BHP (-4.7%), online supermarket Ocado (-3%) and retailer Next (-2.9%) among the fallers.

3.11pm BST

Just in: People around the globe are much gloomier about their economic prospects following the Covid-19 outbreak, new research from the Pew Institute shows.

Pew found that public attitudes about the economy have turned bleak in much of the world, with nearly half of people expecting things to get worse in 2021.

Overall, a median of only 31% of adults across the surveyed nations assess their country's current economic situation as good, while 68% say conditions are bad.

In 10 of the countries surveyed - including all of those surveyed in North America and the Asia-Pacific region - majorities consider the current economic situation bad.

In the U.S., 82% of those ages 18 to 29 say the current economic situation is bad, compared with 58% of those ages 50 and older.

Younger Americans are also less likely than their older counterparts to expect improvements in the economic situation.

NEW: Views of the economy have turned sharply negative in many countries amid COVID-19 https://t.co/DoDFbvroFz

2.55pm BST

Encouraging economic news from the US - the service sector grew in August at the fastest rate in 17 months.

Companies took on new staff, to help handle a jump in new business, reports data firm Markit. That lifted the US services PMI index to 55 (showing decent growth) from 50 (showing stagnation).

U.S. service sector output expanded at the quickest rate since early-2019 in August. The headline Business Activity Index rose to 55.0 (Jul: 50.0) amid a renewed upturn in new orders, while firms increased their staffing levels sharply. Read more: https://t.co/km7T4J48ud pic.twitter.com/BNIzMnnXqb

2.52pm BST

Although tech stocks are down, out-of-favour shares in banks and energy companies are up on Wall Street.

That's helping the Dow Jones industrial average to rise above last night's six-month high; currently it's up 56 points or 0.2% at 29,157.

Stocks opened slightly lower Thursday, taking a breather a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 29,000 for the first time since February.
https://t.co/6XGdeerlf3 pic.twitter.com/kYS0qEUgKp

2.36pm BST

And we're off..... and the tech shares are (as expected) taking a dip.

The Nasdaq Composite has fallen back from this week's record high, losing 200 points or 1.6% to 11,856 points.

US Opening Bell

Do not adjust your sets, US equity markets really are opening in the red.

Tech led though!

DOW DOWN 12.31 POINTS, OR 0.04%, AT 29,088.19

S&P 500 DOWN 20.67 POINTS, OR 0.58%, AT 3,560.17

NASDAQ DOWN 190.94 POINTS, OR 1.58%, AT 11,865.50

Tesla shares are down more than 6%. It finished lower in the last two sessions. $TSLA

2.13pm BST

Over in the US, the boom in technology stocks may take a breather today.

The Nasdaq is down 1% in pre-market trading. That's a rare sight in recent months, as the index has surged since the February-March crash and is up nearly 35% this year.

As we've seen in the rally, a small handful of #stocks like $aapl & $tsla can drive both indices and risk sentiment by themselves.

If we now see these stocks unwind, it could trigger some large moves in #equity markets & names driven by call options on way up will become unstuck

1.56pm BST

Back on Costa Coffee's job cuts...Julie Palmer, partner at Begbies Traynor, points out that new restrictions to protect customers will hurt its revenues:

Like many others, Costa Coffee has only been able to generate a mere fraction of the revenue it would typically if open as usual. While the coffee chain was able to reopen last month, social distancing measures have had to be implemented, limiting the number of customers and potential earnings. Additionally, the lack of workers returning to offices has meant the regular trade from these consumers has been absent.

With the uncertainty seemingly not coming to an end any time soon, it has left the business with no option but to look to reduce costs, starting with its workforce.

Attempts are being made by some businesses to work with local councils in order to utilise outdoor spaces where consumers feel more comfortable, but with winter approaching, they are running out of time. It's likely that as businesses try to recoup their losses from the past few months, many others will follow a similar suit to Costa Coffee."

1.46pm BST

In other economic news... the US trade deficit has surged as Americans imported much more than they exported.

Marketwatch has the details:

The U.S. trade deficit jumped 18.9% in July owing to a big snapback in imports, the government said Thursday.

The trade gap increased to $63.6bn from $53.5bn in the prior month - above the $58.9 billion MarketWatch forecast.

1.44pm BST

Danske Bank points out that the number of new jobless claims in America is now the lowest since the crisis began:

Initial jobless claims the lowest during the pandemic

The total number of continuing claims remains very high, unfortunately pic.twitter.com/yh30An1rsd

Better, but progress is still slow. US jobless claims rose 881,000 last week. That's below expectations and the softest increase since the pandemic started. But the gain is still huge and is a reminder that the labor mkt (& economy) will remain stressed: https://t.co/qYpqNcNhpt pic.twitter.com/qc0yy5bPc5

Sizable jump in claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program (covers freelancers, gig workers, etc). That's been edging up for several weeks now and is now at its highest level since July. pic.twitter.com/ArwQr1uaZd

Continuing claims under regular state unemployment programs continue to trend down. But remember that can be because of people's benefits expiring, not just because they're getting jobs. Nearly 1.5m people are now on various extended benefits programs. pic.twitter.com/Vzb7uCSf9t

1.39pm BST

Just in: the number of Americans filing new unemployment benefit claims has fallen, but remains painfully high.

Last week, 881,000 fresh claims for jobless support were filed in America - down from just over 1 million the previous week, new figures show.

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims

Initial claims were 881,000 for the week ending 8/29 (-130,000).

Insured unemployment was 13,254,000 for the week ending 8/22 (-1,238,000).https://t.co/ys7Eg5LKAW

Claims: 881k (exp. 950k)
Cont claims: 13.25mln (exp. 14mln)

1.09pm BST

Here's my colleague Sarah Butler on Costa's job cut plans:

Costa Coffee is to cut up to 1,650 jobs in its cafes - more than one in 10 of its workforce, as it said trading remained challenging during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company, which was bought by Coca Cola two years ago, said it had now reopened 2,400 of its 2,700 UK outlets all of which closed for six weeks during the high street lockdown.

Costa Coffee - 1,650 jobs
3 September: The company, which was bought by Coca-Cola two years ago, is cutting up to 1,650 jobs in its cafes, more than one in 10 of its workforce. The assistant store manager role will go across all shops.

12.49pm BST

Britain's retail sector has already suffered hefty job cuts, and Costa's move will add to the UK's unemployment woes.

In recent months, several major chains have announced redundancies plans, with Marks & Spencer cutting 7,000 jobs, Boot's laying off 4,000 workers, and Pret a Manger lowering its UK headcount by almost 2,900.

12.24pm BST

Costa says it's cutting jobs now because there is so much economic uncertainty, even though sales have begun to recover.

Costa closed nearly all 2,700 of its UK stores for six weeks during the pandemic.

Since May, stores have been re-opening as safely and as quickly as possible, with over 2,400 stores now trading. While trade is returning, helped by the Government's VAT reduction, which Costa passed on to customers in full, and the recent Eat Out To Help Out" Scheme, there remain high levels of uncertainty as to when trade will recover to pre-COVID levels.

12.13pm BST

Just in: Costa Coffee is planning to cut up to 1,650 jobs, adding to the tens of thousands of jobs already lost across UK retail.

The coffeehouse chain says it is planning to axe the role of assistant store manager across its UK business, as part of a set of difficult decisions".

Today's announcement to our store teams was an extremely difficult decision to make. Our baristas are the heart of the Costa business and I am truly sorry that many now face uncertainty following today's news.

We have had to make these difficult decisions to protect the business and ensure we safeguard as many jobs as possible for our 16,000 team members, whilst emerging stronger ready for future growth.

NEW: Costa Coffee to cut up to 1,650 jobs- about 10% of its workforce

Blames Covid-19 crisis but is removing the Assistant Store Manager role to streamline' the business

12.05pm BST

The drop in eurozone retail sales last month (see here) shows that Covid-19 is still having a serious impact on the region's economy, says Josie Dent, senior economist at the CEBR:

The retail recovery in the eurozone came to an abrupt halt, with a 1.3% monthly contraction in sales volumes in July. These worse-than-expected figures highlight that we are not yet clear of the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on eurozone economies.

While job retention schemes are in place, households' incomes and spending power are somewhat protected from the impacts of the recession. However, governments cannot finance such schemes indefinitely."

11.46am BST

France's new economic recovery plan is being unveiled as the country's daily Covid-19 case total continues to rise (prompting the UK to impose new quarantine rule last month).

Here's Associated Press's take:

Facing resurgent virus infections, France's government is unveiling details Thursday of a 100 billion-euro ($118 billion) recovery plan aimed at creating jobs, saving struggling businesses and pulling the country out of its worst economic slump since World War II.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said on RTL radio ahead of the presentation that the plan hopes to create 160,000 jobs next year and restore France's economic growth levels of 2019 by 2022 - the year of France's next presidential elections.

11.14am BST

Online mattress seller Eve has just hiked its sales guidance, after enjoying strong trading this year.

Eve saw a jump in sales during the early stage of the pandemic, and this hasn't fizzled out yet. It told shareholders:

Trading was strong in May and June and this momentum continued into early July. Since then trading patterns have remained above the Board's expectations through the rest of July and August.

10.46am BST

In a worrying sign, retail sales across the eurozone fell back in July - underlining the need for fresh stimulus measures.

Consumer spending shrank by 1.3% compared with June, when shops benefited from a post-lockdown surge in demand.

In the euro area in July 2020, compared with June 2020, the volume of retail trade decreased by 2.9% for non-food products, remained unchanged for food, drinks and tobacco and increased by 4.3% for automotive fuels.

Euro area #RetailTrade -1.3% in July over June, +0.4% over July 2019 https://t.co/4IO2EiUFlT pic.twitter.com/r5KaGY6ywr

10.38am BST

While many UK firms cut jobs, Amazon is bucking the trend by hiring thousands more staff.

Amazon has already added 3,000 new permanent roles to its workforce across its UK network of fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations - including at a new hi-tech fulfilment centre in the North East of England which opened in May. The company will add a further 7,000 new permanent roles by the end of 2020 across more than 50 sites, including Corporate offices and two new fulfilment centres launching in the autumn in the North East and in the Midlands.

The new roles, including engineers, graduates, HR and IT professionals, health and safety and finance specialists, as well as the teams who will pick, pack and ship customer orders, will help Amazon meet growing customer demand and enable small and medium sized enterprises selling on Amazon to scale their businesses.

10.35am BST

Paul Ashworth, director of Preston business We Brand 4 You, say he's experienced the jump in delayed and unpaid invoices first-hand:

In my sector, and I suspect in most others, the impact of the coronavirus on cashflow through late payments has been devastating.

When the country went into lockdown, companies that would typically pay us on delivery were suddenly taking three or four months to settle their invoices.The cashflow pinch caused by Covid-19 is a major reason why so many companies have gone to the wall.

10.14am BST

More UK workers returned to the office last week, according to the Office for National Statistics latest data -- but a fifth are still working from home all the time.

The ONS reports:

The proportion of working adults exclusively working from home has continued to decline, reaching 20% in the latest week, compared with its high point of 38% between 11 and 14 June.

Over the last two months, the proportion working exclusively from home has followed a steadily decreasing trend. In the most recent week, the proportion of working adults who travelled to work reached 57%, its highest level since the series began, after increasing steadily over the last two months.

Oh look! They've made a list of everything I hate about work and put it on a poster! pic.twitter.com/UQ7C4jQthN

10.09am BST

The Covid-19 crisis has left many firms holding onto unpaid bills.

The Office for National Statistics reports that 54% of businesses say they are owed outstanding invoice payments as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

One in 10 also said that they were at a moderate or severe risk of insolvency, at 9% and 1% respectively. 48% said they were at a low risk of insolvency, 31% said they had no risk, while 11% were not sure.

9.50am BST

Duncan Brock of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, fears that UK services companies will keep cutting jobs this autumn.

Here's his take on August's service sector PMI report:

As the UK economy continues to wake from its pandemic slumber, the services sector reported a higher than expected rise in new orders and at the strongest levels since December 2016. Buoyed up by increased consumer spending from domestic markets and unfettered by lockdown measures, businesses continued to be optimistic even though obstacles to stronger growth lingered on.

Export business remained subdued as overseas sales declined for the seventh month in a row, hampered by unsettled supply chains and continuing restrictions on logistics and travel. The distressing employment numbers also darkened the mood with a high number of job cuts this month. Government support was a blessing to many firms but as this comes to an end, many service providers are resorting to redundancy schemes under the weight of operating in a tough marketplace.

9.40am BST

Britain's service sector companies grew faster than eurozone rivals - but that didn't prevent bosses wielding the axe.

The UK services sector grew at its faster rate in over five years in August, according to Markit's final UK service sector PMI which was just released.

Around one-in-three survey respondents (34%) reported a drop in staffing levels during August, while only 11% reported a rise.

Among those companies reporting a drop in payroll numbers, this was mainly linked to reviews of staffing needs and redundancy measures as their usage of furlough started to wind down.

UK services firms enjoyed a solid boost to the economy in August, latest #PMI data showed, as business activity grew at the sharpest rate since April 2015 (Index to 58.8) amid a strong recovery in domestic consumer spending. More: https://t.co/1RfJF3cu0e pic.twitter.com/gocVoOkQEx

9.10am BST

The latest healthcheck on European service sectors is in....and it confirms that growth slowed sharply last month.

Data firm IHS Markit's monthly Service Sector PMI, just released, fell to 50.5 last month from a healthier 54.7 in July.

Service sector companies across the eurozone saw growth of business activity grind almost to a halt in August, fueling worries that the post-lockdown rebound has started to fade amid ongoing social distancing restrictions linked to COVID-19.

The near-stalling needs to be viewed in the context of the strong expansion seen in July: business growth had surged to a near two-year high as economies opened up further from the severe COVID-19 lockdowns. However, the latest reading still sends a disappointing signal that the rebound has lost almost all momentum.

France's services economy continued to expand in August, but momentum slowed considerably from July. The #PMI Business Activity Index fell to 51.5 in August (from 57.3) as new business growth faltered and job cuts accelerated. More: https://t.co/RXy6MavjHc pic.twitter.com/LONlHV2Mhc

Italy Services #PMI data showed a renewed decline in activity at service providers in August (index at 47.1, from 51.6), as new business levels fell at a faster pace and business confidence remained weak. More: https://t.co/QSJCzSBZ2Y pic.twitter.com/2ddRqRsgE4

Spain's services economy returned to contraction in August, amid reports of depressed tourist activity due to fresh outbreaks of COVID-19. The Business Activity #PMI fell to 47.7 (Jul: 51.9) as new business and employment also declined. More: https://t.co/3Qe9yaGuDb pic.twitter.com/vIqqig9OhK

8.52am BST

Speaking of vaccines.... GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi have said they're ready to start testing their protein-based Covid-19 vaccine on humans for the first time.

The move follows promising results in earlier studies, as my colleague Joanna Partridge explains:

GSK, the world's largest vaccine maker, and the French drugmaker Sanofi joined forces in April to work on an effective treatment to halt the deadly pandemic.

The vaccine being developed by London-headquartered GSK and Paris-based Sanofi combines existing technology used by Sanofi to make its flu vaccine, along with an add-on from GSK, known as an adjuvant, which can be mixed with a vaccine to trigger a stronger immune reaction.

8.52am BST

France's stock market just hit its highest level since mid-July, while German stocks are back at levels last seen in February:

Conner Campbell of SpreadEx says:

Fuelled by hopes of stimulus stateside, and actual stimulus on the continent, the European markets surged out of the gates on Thursday.

Leading the charge was the CAC, following the unveiling of the France Relaunch' plan - a 100 billion spend on various measures, including jobs, the environment, and making the country's economy more competitive'. Obviously overjoyed, the French index rose 1.9%, lifting it to a 6-week-plus peak of 5115.

8.48am BST

European stock markets have opened strongly this morning, led by Paris.

The EU-wide Stoxx 600 index has rallied by 1%, adding to yesterday's gains, with the French CAC jumping 1.6%.

8.38am BST

Paul Donovan of UBS Wealth Management says France's stimulus programme is designed to improve the supply side of its economy.

French President Macron is taking the EU's fiscal fund to part fund a 100bn fiscal stimulus. This is supply side focused, with tax cuts for manufacturers and retraining programs.

The objectives sound great but politicians sometimes have a habit of trying to preserve the past rather than embrace the future (per UK Prime Minister Johnson urging people to return to Dickensian office working).

It's a sensible mixture of temporary boosts to call for by means of activity coverage and longer-term provide by means of funding

Nevertheless it's very French in how it tries to get to the bottom of the entirety in a single plan.

Jean Castex, the new French premier, will on Thursday unveil an economic stimulus plan worth 100bn or 4 per cent of gross domestic product over two years. It is, French officials say, the biggest stimulus programme of any big European country measured against national output, separate from the emergency support measures this spring which included vast loan guarantees.

It is also the first to be announced by a big economy since EU leaders agreed a 750bn recovery fund at a marathon summit in July. France is counting on using its share of the fund - expected to be some 40bn - to cover a big part of its stimulus bill and it has shaped the package accordingly. The money will be used to improve business competitiveness, accelerate the green transition and help retrain the young and those who lost their jobs in the pandemic slump.

France Relance, or France''s 100bn stimulus plan, is also Macron's revival plan https://t.co/BNlpTZbGfh via @financialtimes

8.15am BST

French Prime Minister Jean Castex says the 100bn recovery plan could create 160,000 jobs by 2021, as well as erasing the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.

FRANCE'S PM CASTEX: I HOPE THE FRENCH ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN WILL CREATE BY 2021 160,000 JOBS.

8.01am BST

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

The plan earmarks in particular 35bn for making the euro zone's second biggest economy more competitive, 30bn for more environmentally friendly energies and 25bn for supporting jobs, officials said ahead of its official presentation late on Thursday.

With the plan equating to 4% of gross domestic product, France is ploughing more public cash into its economy than any other big European country as a percentage of GDP, one of the officials said.

France Recovery Plan of 100bn (4% GDP) to get back to 2019 activity level in 2022
With 3 main axes:

30bn for energy transition

35bn for competitiveness & reshoring of industry

25bn for employment, skills, health & solidarityhttps://t.co/YPkN1Fe05I

The plan also aims to put Macron's pro-business push back on track with already flagged cuts in business taxes worth 10bn euros annually and fresh public funds to give a boost France's industrial, construction and transport sectors.

Officials said the transport sector would get 11bn with 4.7bn targeting the rail network in particular while energy-efficient building renovations would be spurred with 4bn euros for public buildings and 2bn for homes.

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