Dow Jones suffers steep fall and FTSE 100 in bear market - as it happened

Graeme Wearden in Davos, and Nick Fletcher in Lond

from on 2016-01-20 21:53 (#11857)

There's a gloomy feeling in the air as world leaders and business chiefs gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos

9.53pm GMT

And finally, here's our news story about today's drama:

9.08pm GMT

Phew! Today's stock market rout is over, with Wall Street posting chunky losses - but not as bad as it looked earlier.

The Dow Jones closed 245 points, or 1.5%, in the red - bad, but better than the 500+ slump that had Davos attendees gasping earlier today.

BREAKING: Dow rebounds from 565 pt loss to close down 245; S&P down 1.1%, Nasdaq off 0.1% https://t.co/SxK2mTyCr2 pic.twitter.com/tkp1t2e25d

9.04pm GMT

As if today wasn't dramatic enough - Deutsche Bank has issued a profit warning:

Deutsche bank boss John Cryan after warns of full year loss: "This will be the Bank's first full-year loss since 2008, and it is sobering"

6.39pm GMT

In another significant move, Joe Biden has used his trip to Davos to urge executives to fight for the right of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Reuters has got the story:

The issue is on the official agenda for the first time at the World Economic Forum, where political leaders from countries that discriminate against gay people, such as Nigeria and Russia, schmooze business leaders and billionaire investors.

Biden told U.S. executives including Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of apartment-sharing firm Airbnb, Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca Cola Company, and Anthony Scaramucci, founder of hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, to push for change.

6.32pm GMT

Joe Biden is giving quite a progressive speech tonight at Davos.

He's telling the heads of the world's biggest businesses that they need to ensure basic protection for workers are the world economy embraces the 4th industrial revolution.

Embrace the obligation to your #workers as much as your shareholders: Joe Biden https://t.co/V2kFG96Iot #wef #biden

2) We need to continue to ensure basic protection for workers as these changes take place: Joe Biden https://t.co/KvG4PHL1Mo #wef #biden

6.27pm GMT

Joe Biden also cited one of the statistics of the week - the continued concentration of wealth among the very richest.

According to @Oxfam, the 62 richest people in the world have as much wealth as the bottom 3.6 billion people: Joe Biden #wef #biden

6.21pm GMT

Joe Biden, the vice-president of the United States, has given the final keynote speech of the day.

He started by joking with Christine Lagarde in the audience, saying that he might need some money. Not for a bailout deal (things aren't that bad today!), but for his own purposes:

Whenever I see you, Christine, you say "I know, Greece. I know, Ukraine". But this time I need a personal loan.

How will the warehouse worker who used to ship your order, or the salesman who used to take it, make a living when they are no longer needed?

1/2 There used to be a basic bargain; if you contributed to an enterprise's success, you...: Joe Biden https://t.co/oHMnYCuGNm #wef #biden

2/2 ...got to share in its benefits. That bargain has been broken: Joe Biden https://t.co/7rVzSoHh6r #wef #biden

The fundamental change of the last 4 decades is the divergence between productivity & wages: Joe Biden https://t.co/UehScGv90c #wef #biden

5.38pm GMT

"The Dow Jones industrial average is down over 500 points", whispers one Davos attendee.

And they're right. The Dow has shed 536 points, or 3.3%, right now to leave it at 15,475 points.

5.27pm GMT

Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, just whisked through the Davos conference room with a hall entourage.

He wasn't taking press questions, alas, but did share a quick, friendly handshake with Finland's finance minister, Alex Stubb.

4.47pm GMT

US oil prices crashed below $27 for the first time since 2003 after the International Energy Agency warned on Tuesday that the oil market could "drown in oversupply". Venezuela requested an emergency Opec meeting to discuss steps to shore up oil prices, but other delegates dismissed the idea.

New York light crude tumbled 5.5% to $26.89 a barrel on Wednesday, while Brent crude, the global benchmark, lost 4.2% to $27.56.

4.46pm GMT

Back to Davos, and the Pope has sent a message to politicians and business leaders attending WEF - don't forget the poorest in society.

Pope Francis warned that "soulless machines" should not be allowed to muscle humans out of work, saying:

Weeping for other people's pain does not only mean sharing in their sufferings, but also and above all realising that our own actions are a cause of injustice and inequality.

Once we realise this, we become more fully human, since responsibility for our brothers and sisters is an essential part of our common humanity. Do not be afraid to open your minds and hearts to the poor. In this way, you will give free rein to your economic and technical talents, and discover the happiness of a full life, which consumerism of itself cannot provide."

4.21pm GMT

Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG, has summed up the action on financial markets:

FTSE bears have been enjoying themselves today, as the index touches levels not seen since late 2012. The UK market has not been alone, as Europe and now the US join in with the panic of January 2016.

Bond yields are heading lower too as investors shun risky assets and stash their money in any safe place going. The main driver of the falls continues to be oil, which has pushed onwards to fresh lows, taking oil stocks with it. A fresh downgrade to IMF growth forecasts underlines what stock markets are telling investors - that things are looking gloomy across the board."

4.19pm GMT

While we were quizzing Ken Rogoff, Adam Posen, et al, Iranian officials have been taking a pop at Saudi Arabia.

Foreign minister Javad Zarif argued that the Saudi's are to blame for the crisis in the Middle East.

"Saudi Arabia has tried to keep the old staus quo in our region because they don't think change is in their interest. They unnecessarily panicked and created a lot of mess in our region.

4.14pm GMT

The sell-off in global market is gathering pace. The Dow Jones is now down more than 400 points, or 2.6%, at 15,593.72.

The FTSE 100 index in London has tumbled nearly 230 points, or 3.9%, to 5649.55. Germany's Dax has lost 335 points, or 3.5%, falling to 9329.09, while France's CAC is down nearly 180 points to 4087.42, a 4.2% fall.

3.51pm GMT

Adam Posen, the Peterson Institute director who used to set UK interest rates, has also discussed the crisis with us.

"I don't think we are on the edge of another financial crisis. I don't even think we are on the edge of another crash. The idea that things are as over-valued as they were last time is false."

"At the margin I am not sure the Federal Reserve did the right thing by raising rates last month but I am not sure it was a big mistake. But if the Bank of England or the ECB raised rates, that would be a big mistake."

3.45pm GMT

We've now grabbed some time with Ken Rogoff, former IMF chief economist and now economics professor at Harvard, to discuss the market turmoil, and the global economy.

"It feels to me that there is a panic in the markets that doesn't necessarily translate into the real economy."

"If China goes from 7% growth to minus 2% growth then everybody will be in recession. If it goes to 3-4% growth it will probably not be enough to cause a recession in the developed world. But it is definitely a very precarious situation for emerging markets."

"It's like trying to control the weather. They should let the exchange rate and the stock market find their own level.

This is the third leg of the debt super-cycle. First is was the US, then it was Europe, now it is China."

3.39pm GMT

Bob Diamond's concerns about liquidity (see earlier post) have also been echoed by a top IMF official earlier today:

Speaking on a panel, deputy director Min Zhu said:

"The key issue is that liquidity could drop dramatically, and that scares everyone."

"If everybody is moving together we don't have any liquidity at all. We have to be ready to act very fast."

3.22pm GMT

Canada's new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has urged Davos attendees to invest more in his country, in one of his first appearances on the international stage since winning power.

Like him or not, @JustinTrudeau does good job pitching #Canada, incl this one: "Davos is lovely but you've got to come to Whistler" #wef

Low oil prices are a challenge but the Canadian economy is a lot more than just natural resources: @JustinTrudeau #wef

3.02pm GMT

We've also collared Dennis Nally, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, to talk about the turmoil in the markets.

"I don't know whether we are heading for another crash but unquestionably the environment is clearly having an effect on markets, on everything that is going on here and on the attitudes that exist here in Davos.

"There needs to be more dialogue about how [bring] to stability back into the system. I believe there is a disconnect between government, regulators and business".

3.00pm GMT

Bob Diamond, the banker who was forced out of Barclays during the Libor rigging crisis, says there's no comparison between the situation today and in 2008.

Diamond, who has now founded a banking operation called Altas Mara which is expanding across Africa, says:

"It Is a correction, a heathy correction. A lot of people are trying to compare it to 2008, but during the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 we probably had the deepest economic correction I have seen. I don't see us going into that position.

The US economy is still strong, Europe is doing surprising well - the easier monetary policy led by governor [of the European Central Bank Mario] Draghi has sown some positives. There is a correction in China.. If china slows down to 6 or 7% (growth) is that a success? That's fine"

"A lot of people are taking about where is the liquidity, where are the buyers? Basel three, Volcker rule, ring fenced banks, buffer upon buffer of capital. Are we surprised there is less liquidity from the banks?"

2.44pm GMT

Here's one jot of good news, Nouriel Roubini, Davos's own doctor doom and the economist who predicted the last crash doesn't think it is going to be that bad this time.

"It is not going to be like 2008-09. There is not the excessive leverage in the financial system that there was last time."

"The big thing that should happen is China should stop kicking the can down the road and get on with some serious structural reforms".

#WEF16 insight: inequality is rising due to technology, trade, globalization, winner take all effects, power of elites. What to do about it?

#WEF16 debate. Tech innovation is capital-intensive, skills-biased, labor-saving. So it increases income and wealth inequality.

2.38pm GMT

To no one's great surprise, the US markets have followed the rest of the world and moved sharply lower in early trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 271 points or 1.7% while the S&P 500 has fallen more than 1% and Nasdaq has lost 1.5%.

2.32pm GMT

Sir Roger Carr, chairman of BAE Systems, said:

I think we're witnessing a collision of events which has provoked an immediate sense of crisis. Whether it's commodities, China, oil prices, terrorism, geopolitical turbulence, all have landed particularly in the month of January and there is an immediate impact which is reflected in the stock market.

At the moment what is being discounted are some of the positives that come out of low oil prices in economic terms. It is only being looked at in the lens of bad news.

2.30pm GMT

Back in Davos and Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT, was asked if we were on the brink of another crisis. He replied:

On the balance of probabilities no, but it is very finely balanced.

It is an unstable environment. In terms of doing business, I've just been at a lunch and most of the CEOs there say most of the underlying businesses are pretty good. If there is contagion in financial markets into the business markets that is going to affect confidence and that's when we could see a slow down.

We've got to be used to a period of time when the world is just more volatile and we have to be able to live and manage through those sort of conditions. I don't think it's going to go away. There could be quite significant swings but the underlying number when it's evened out will be fine.

We need the financial markets to settle down and hope that confidence remains strong and that it doesn't affect people's underlying desire to do business. What is really going in China is a big [concern], elections and referendum around the world is an issue and the state of things in the Middle East which have a knock on effect.

1.57pm GMT

The US inflation figures suggest there may only be one Federal Reserve rate rise this year, says Rob Carnell of ING Bank:

US CPI for December fell 0.1% month on month versus a consensus 0.0% month on month expectation. Energy prices were down 2.4% month on month, and food prices also fell for a second consecutive month.

But it is the weakness in the service sector inflation component that probably caught the consensus out the most. At only +0.1% month on month, this was down on the trend 0.2-0.3% growth in service sector prices over recent months, and may reflect a slightly weaker growth profile in residential rents, though it has to be said that the weakness in services was not confined to rentals, and was reflected also in areas such as recreation and education. Goods (commodities prices) were as ever, very weak (down 0.1% month on month excluding food and energy, down 2.1% year on year).

1.47pm GMT

In the US, the consumer price index fell 0.1% month on month in December after being unchanged the previous month. Analysts had been expected the index to also remain flat in December, but the falling oil price helped push it lower.

But the year on year figure rose 0.7%, following a 0.5% gain in November. The core CPI, which strips out energy and food costs, rose 0.1% month on month after rising 0.2% for the previous three months, and 2.1% year on year.

1.15pm GMT

Goldman Sachs has reported a drop in profits for the fourth straight quarter, hit by a $5bn settlement related to sales of mortgage bonds during the financial crisis.

The bank's fourth quarter earnings fell 71.8% to $574m, with its results also affected by the plunge in oil prices, the slowdown in the Chinese economy and US rate rises.

12.56pm GMT

The slump in oil prices has sent the rouble to a new record low. The Russian currency fell to 80.92 to the dollar before recovering to 80.85, still down 2.8% on the day.

The fall comes amid fears that the commodity-dependent Russian economy could be further hit by the continuing slide in crude prices.

12.41pm GMT

London's leading index has fallen into bear market territory, defined as 20% below its recent peak.

The FTSE 100 has fallen to 5688, down more than 3% as the oil price continues to slide amid concerns about oversupply and lack of demand. Worries about the outlook for China have rattled global markets, not helped by gloomy comments from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

12.13pm GMT

Just grabbed a word with Philip J. Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union, about the turmoil in the markets.

Are we heading into a crash?

Yes, we are heading for a crash, I'm worried about it.

Emerging markets were meant to pull us through this crisis. but China is slowing, and the impact will ripple out across the developing economy. And the jobs situation across the global economy will not improve

We are worried abut the economic climate - how deep the crash will be. Those RBS analysts [who said to sell everything] may be right - "cataclysm" could be the right word to use.

We need leadership. The G20 needs to fulfil the promise they made at the last financial crisis, to not just save the banking sector but to also put the economy back on track.

The private sector need to understand that lack of investment isn't helping, and we need to push wages higher. The G20 needs to put demand back in the economy.

12.11pm GMT

Some customers at Italy's Monte dei Paschi bank have started withdrawing their savings, according to its chief executive. The bank is struggling with its bad loans and has seen its stock market value have this year. Reuters reports:

Chief executive Fabrizio Viola did not say how much money savers had withdrawn, or when the outflow began, though he said the fall in deposits was "limited" and that the bank could cope with it as he sought to reassure customers and investors.

Italian bank shares have lost 20% so far this year as investors, already rattled about global economic growth, have sold out of a sector with low profitability and about 200 billion euros ($218 billion) of loans that are unlikely to be repaid.

"Of course clients turning to our local branches are worried about what they read," Viola said in a statement.

"At present the size of the funding lost due to clients who decided to move part of their savings elsewhere is limited and anyway below levels seen during the previous crisis the bank faced in February 2013 which was overcome brilliantly."

#Italy | ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER MET ECON MINISTER, BANK OF ITALY CHIEF ON WEDS TO DISCUSS ITALIAN BANKING SECTOR -SOURCE

11.56am GMT

Here's some words of comfort amid the gloom.

European economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici does not believe there will be a repeat of the financial crisis, nor does he think the eurozone's growth outlook will be changed in the next EC forecasts.

Central banks still have more firepower they can use to counter a slowdown in global growth, which does not change the outlook for recovery in the eurozone, European Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Reuters Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Moscovici said he did not believe there would be any return to an international financial crisis, despite turmoil in world markets during the first few weeks of 2016 triggered by China's slowdown and low oil prices.

Moscovici said he did not expect any major change in the euro zone's growth outlook when the European Commission issues an updated forecast in early February, despite the sharp slowdown in China and tumbling stock and commodity markets.

The EU executive last forecast in November that the euro zone would grow by 1.8 percent this year and 1.9 percent in 2017 after an estimated 1.6 percent last year.

11.51am GMT

The IMF has also weighed in on migration, saying it can be positive.

A new report predicts a short-term boot to GDP in countries who take refugees in, and long-term benefits if migrants are integrated well.

Lagarde: native workers wage declines in face of migration likely to be limited and temporary pic.twitter.com/b5s6b9YHsT

10.59am GMT

More on capital flows. The amount of money flowing out of emerging markets, especially China, was much worse than expected last year, according to a report from the Institute of International Finance.

In October the finance industry group forecast net outflows from emerging markets of $540bn.

Net capital outflows from emerging markets in 2015 were even larger than we previously thought.

We now estimate total net capital outflows (including unrecorded flows captured by net errors and omissions) at $735 billion, up from outflows of $111 billion in 2014.

10.59am GMT

HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver spoke to reporters after he had finished talking about climate change.

Asked about the financial market turmoil, he said that part of the movement was "self fulfilling" as investors liquidated positions to make margin calls on positions.

"You always get an overshoot in times of significant sell offs".

"I think we will see further adjustments before we hit equilibrium. We'll see a little more sell offs before we see equilibrium but we're closer equilibrium than we were a couple of weeks ago, we're towards the end of this sort of sell off".

10.53am GMT

Nariman Behravesh, chief economist of IHS, has some interesting thoughts on China, where he thinks policy makers in Beijing will respond to pressure on the yuan by quietly bringing back capital controls.

"There has been a massive amount of capital flight - around $1 trillion since last summer" Behravesh said. "That puts huge downward pressure on the exchange rate. The question is what happens next."

"The first thing that policy makers could do is to let the currency go. That would result in a devaluation of 15-20%. That would have horrible consequences. It could trigger a global currency war and a global recession."

The second thing they could do is keep using foreign currency reserves, but there are limits to that."

10.51am GMT

#WEF16 #Davos Gauck talks about Germany's post WW2 migration history. Tune in https://t.co/JodISXnT8V pic.twitter.com/Nlw7zqccCz

Joachim Gauck, the president of Germany, is addressing the Davos Congress Hall now.

#migration is always hope - and can be a chance for new and old homeland says #Germany's #Gauck @Davos #wef16

The president of Germany says that limiting the number of refugees entering Europe is necessary and "morally acceptable" if the continent is to continue to provide help to those in need.

While stressing the "humanitarian responsibility" of taking in victims of persecution, Joachim Gauck told a conference in Davos, Switzerland, that Germany and European countries must limit the numbers of people who want to come in to avoid being overwhelmed.

10.44am GMT

My colleague Jill Treanor has spoken to HSBC's CEO Stuart Gulliver - he has admitted that the bank may not have a decision on whether it is moving its bank out of the UK by next month's financial results.

Stuart Gulliver says will be update on hq decision by hsbc results on 22 Feb

HSBC's boss says he did not know if there would a decision on hq by 22 feb #davos

10.33am GMT

Al Gore, former US vice-president, says last month's Paris agreement showed that the world is prepared to do what's needed to tackle climate change.

195 nations said yes, we will change. The direction of travel has been established....and that message has been received by the World Economic Forum.

"The Paris agreement had to be unanimous, if there was one country that didn't agree with the carbon price in 2015 had that been rammed down the throat we would not have had a Paris agreement."

10.30am GMT

The stock market sell off is getting worse. The FTSE 100 is now down 170 points or 2.8% at 5706 - only around 20 points off a bear market (20% off its peak).

Germany's Dax is down more than 3% and France's Cac has fallen 3.3%.

10.24am GMT

Sir Martin Sorrell, chairman of advertising giant WPP, has added his voice to those warning that the world faces slowing growth.

The new normal is a low-growth world. Inflation is under too much control, we could do with a bit more of it.

That scenario will continue. The system couldn't sustain pre-Lehman growth rates because it blew up in September 2008.

For the next year there is going to be a lot of risk in China and the emerging markets, but not such elevated risks for Europe and the US.

10.11am GMT

Climate change is a big theme at Davos, especially after Leonardo DiCaprio attacked the greed of the energy industry last night.

Stuart Gulliver, boss of HBSC, has told one panel that the bank sets tougher lending criteria for coal-fired power stations in emerging markets than those in developed economies.

"The maths do work" says HSBC's Stuart Gulliver when asked about financing of green fuel at #davos "The public wants to do this"

10.06am GMT

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Nigerian finance minister, has backed the ebola agreement between Gavi and Merck announced today.

There was a "shared terror" in Africa last year, she says, during the ebola outbreak in which more than 11,000 people died.

9.55am GMT

Amira Yahyaoui, the Tunisian journalist who is co-chairing this year's meeting, says the rise of smarter machines (the 4th industrial revolution), should spur humans to understand what makes them human.

Speaking on a panel, she says humans are no longer in a monopoly on planet Earth. We are in competition with things that might be better than we are.

We are the ones destroying the planet, we are the ones killing humans. So this 4th industrial revolution should maybe be a revolution of values.

Eighteen percent of this forum are women, 18 is nothing. I come from a country supposed to be very anti-woman and we are more than 33% women in parliament and we have parity in every election.

It's not by improving the candle that we created electricity, and it's time to create electricity.

9.55am GMT

Geraint Johnes, professor of economics at Lancaster University, said:

All regions except London experienced a fall in the unemployment rate, suggesting that the recovery is now well and truly being felt nationwide.

The construction industry has continued to play a leading part in the recovery - the number of jobs in this sector has increased by some 77000. Administrative and business support functions have also seen considerable growth - of 50000 jobs - over the latest period.

9.53am GMT

And here's chancellor George Osborne on the day's data:

.@ONS stats show the UK #employment rate is the highest since records began in 1971. Read the Chancellor's response: pic.twitter.com/KuB9BvgB5v

9.53am GMT

Continued weakness of UK pay growth still looks odd given the tightening labour market. pic.twitter.com/W3inYrcgeq

9.51am GMT

UK unemployment hits 5.1%, same as 2000-07 average, yet no inflation in sight. pic.twitter.com/oiwpKQ1PZS

9.46am GMT

On the jobs data, James Knightley at ING Bank said:

The UK labour data looks pretty decent with employment growth in the three months to November rising 267,000 and the unemployment rate falling to 5.1%, both are better than the 235,000 and 5.2% consensus predictions. However, wage growth did slow close to expectations (ex bonus the three month average is now 1.9% year on year although the single month reading did rise to 2.1% from 1.6%). Consequently, it is an encouraging report that should keep consumer confidence and spending running at healthy levels.

However, with Bank of England Governor Mark Carney suggesting there is little appetite for a rate hike any time soon and with the prospect of a Brexit vote set to weigh on activity it looks as though November remains the earliest possible opportunity for a rate rise.

9.44am GMT

Here's are the average earnings:

9.42am GMT

The government's plans to cut back the public sector show through in the jobs data. For September 2015, 17.1% of people in employment worked in the public sector, the lowest proportion since comparable records began in 1999.

9.39am GMT

Here's the Reuters take on the UK data:

Wage growth in Britain in the three months to November was its slowest since February, official data showed on Wednesday, the latest sign the Bank of England will take its time before raising interest rates.

The slowing in wage growth came even as Britain's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 5.1 percent, its lowest since early 2006, from 5.2 percent in the three months to October.

9.36am GMT

The unemployment rate of 5.1% was below forecasts of a 5.2% figure.

#Unemployment rate 5.1% for Sep-Nov 2015, down from 5.8% a year earlier https://t.co/JHtQT8CKWi pic.twitter.com/hykSwTBxUs

9.36am GMT

Total weekly earnings rose 2%, compared to expectations of 2.1%. This is also the weakest growth since February.

9.35am GMT

On the wages front, average weekly earnings excluding bonuses rose 1.9% in the three months to November, compared to expectations of a 1.8% rise. This was the weakest growth since February last year.

The November figure was 2.1% year on year.

9.34am GMT

For September to November 2015, 74% of people aged from 16 to 64 were in work, the highest employment rate since comparable records began in 1971, according to the Office for National Statistics.

9.33am GMT

The UK December claimant count has fallen 4,300 compared to expectations of a 2,500 rise.

The jobless numbers fell 99,000 to 1.675m in the three months to November, meaning the unemployment rate is 5.1%, its lowest since the three months to January 2006.

9.06am GMT

With crude still tumbling - Brent is now down 2.8% at $27.88 a barrel - Shell has spelled out the damage the slump in oil prices is doing to its business. Our energy editor Terry Macalister reports:

Shell has warned that its fourth-quarter profits may be 50% lower than last time with full year write-offs as high as $7bn (5bn), underlining the damage being wreaked on the industry by low crude prices.

In the first preliminary results to be reported this year by any of the large oil companies, Shell said it expected earnings to come in at between $1.6bn and $1.9bn and full-year numbers as low as $10.4bn.

8.55am GMT

Gavi, the vaccine group, is announcing a new deal with drugs company Merck to get access to its ebola vaccine.

Under the scheme, Merck will make 300,000 doses of the vaccine available in the next few months, for clinical trials and in case there is another outbreak. The vaccine not been fully licenced yet, but testing last year found it was 100% effective in providing protection against ebola.

The scale and speed of the firestorm in Africa reminded us that mother nature is the best terrorist.

It showed that we need to prepare in advance, and also respond quickly when a crisis occurs.

8.41am GMT

Anand Mahindra, director of Indian company Mahinda and Mahindra, is one of the speakers on a panel about the transformation of tomorrow.

"I was scared" he said when having dinner in New York and the young girls sitting next to him didn't talk to each other for 15 minutes while they used their phones.

"Men still run the world and I'm not sure it's going that well".

8.24am GMT

Facebook's CEO, Sheryl Sandburg, is discussing the future of technology now:

"No place for hate and intolerance on our platform" Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook tells #davos

8.08am GMT

In the wake of falls on Asian markets, investors in Europe are seeing heavy losses at the start of trading.

The FTSE 100 is down 110 points or 1.8% 5766, its lowest level since November 2012 and less than 100 points off a bear market (down 20% from its all time high last April).

7.42am GMT

The head of Swiss banking giant UBS, Axel Weber, has added to the angst in Davos by warning that we are stuck in an era of low growth.

"Last year the forecast of the IMF for that year was 2% lower than the forecast three years out. It's just a sign of the fact we are and have moved to a lower growth environment, where the rebound of growth rates we've seen in the past we are unlikely to see again soon. We are coming out of biggest global crisis in many decades and it will take time to heal".

One of the reasons why growth cannot be reignited is the central banks also have a difficulty to reignite inflation rates. Most of the central banks tell you (their target) is to have inflation rate of around 2%, quantitative easing and massively expanding the balance sheet does not lead to an uptick of inflation close to target at least on the time horizon of one to two years out".

"We are seeing a low growth, low interest rate environment with low interest rates. We will have to get used to the lower growth environment and low interest rate environment".

7.41am GMT

Tuesday's market rally has proved shortlived, with Asian markets down sharply and Europe forecast to follow suit.

After rising on talk of growing Chinese demand for oil and hopes of more central bank stimulus to boost the world's second largest economy, crude is falling back once more. That appears to be a belated reaction to the International Energy Agency saying the market could "drown in oversupply."

The inability of US markets to hold onto most of its gains was the first clue as oil prices slipped back off their highs once again. Furthermore it is this inability to sustain rebounds for any length of time that continues to gnaw away at investor sentiment in the short term, and keep the pressure on the downside.

7.35am GMT

Business leaders in Davos are rather gloomier this year, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers last night.

Terrorism, oil, and China, mean bosses are more worried than at any time in the last 5 years:

7.17am GMT

Good morning from Davos, Switzerland, where the 2016 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum is getting underway.

There's a bit of snow in the air this morning, and more than a bit of anxiety as global leaders, business chiefs, campaigners, celebrities and the media converge on the small ski resort.

Another risk-off day: Asia stocks tumble w/ Japan down almost 4% on global growth concerns and another #oil crash. pic.twitter.com/czmHl7TMSt

The somewhat mystifying 3%+ rally in Mainland equities yesterday has proved short-lived and this is likely to punish commodities on European and US exchanges.

Some more of the Chinese GDP data has filtered out today and concerns about Chinese economic growth seeing a very weak Q1 in 2016 are growing.

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