US stocks fall as investors fret over rising Covid-19 cases - as it happened
Rolling coverage of the latest financial and economic news, as investors reacted to another rise in Covid-19 cases in the US
2.58pm BST
2.35pm BST
Wall Street has fallen at the open, as investors fret over the current rise in Covid-19 cases stateside.
2.29pm BST
Amid the flurry of news, we've got to catch up with the latest batch of US data ahead of the market open.
Incomes which were initially boosted by US government pay protection programmes during the pandemic in April, have started to fade away as lockdowns started to ease.
The decrease in personal income in May primarily reflected a decrease in government social benefits to persons as payments made to individuals from federal economic recovery programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continued, but at a lower level than in April.
2.16pm BST
There is a serious incident taking place in Glasgow, involving armed police. My colleagues are covering the story here.
2.00pm BST
More on Intu's appointment of administrators:
The company, whose centres include Lakeside in Essex and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, said all of its shopping centres will continue to trade and that its underlying group operating companies" are not affected.
The intu Group's relationships with its tenants are with these operating companies, not the companies entering administration.
1.54pm BST
Breaking: Shopping centre owner Intu says it has formally applied to appoint KPMG as administrators.
The appointment is expected to become effective shortly," the company said in a statement.
1.42pm BST
Newsflash: More than two thirds of Tesco shareholders have voted down the company's pay report.
Results from the supermarket's AGM show that 67.29% rejected the pay report amid a row over the chief executive's pay package. Only 32.71% approved the resolution.
While the Board is pleased that all other resolutions were carried with very large majorities, we are disappointed that the advisory vote on the directors' remuneration report was not passed.
Following recent engagement on our Remuneration Report with a number of our larger shareholders, we have been reassured that the majority agree that the overall outcome of the 2017 PSP award is proportionate given the outstanding turnaround delivered by management
We will publish an update on our engagement, in accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, within six months of the 2020 AGM.
1.29pm BST
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been asked if he'll intervene in the retail sector, in light of shopping centre Intu being on the brink of administration.
He's said shopping malls have been feeling the squeeze and that the government will do everything they can to look after them, according to Reuters.
1.16pm BST
Connor Campbell, financial analyst at SpreadEx says European stocks are rising in reaction to further hints of stimulus both in the UK and the EU:
It seems that investors are choosing focus on stimulus-positive remarks from around Europe, instead of the realities of a potential second wave.
Christine Lagarde, who said that we've probably passed the lowest point' of the pandemic, claimed that there is no question' in her mind that central banks need to use all tools available' to combat a recession. S
12.50pm BST
Aston Martin Lagonda will raise 245m in new equity and high-cost debt as the luxury carmaker seeks funding to see it through the slump in revenues caused by the coronavirus pandemic, my colleague Jasper Jolly writes.
The company will issue new shares worth as much as 19.99% of the existing share capital, raising up to 190m from investors in the third major change to its financing this year.
Related: Aston Martin seeks 245m in equity and debt after sales slump
12.36pm BST
European stocks are still rising, as investors ignore the Fed warnings on loan losses and rising coronavirus cases on the other side of the Atlantic.
The Dow Jones futures are trading lower as traders fail to shake off the fact that the US had its biggest one day surge in coronavirus cases yesterday and it has constrained the re-opening process.
There is no doubt that the second coronavirus wave news has been glum and it may maintain this narrative for some time but the fact is that smart money does see the Texas governor's recent action of halting the further re-open efforts as a positive sign.
12.14pm BST
The Chancellor also told Bloomberg that there will be strings attached to any bailouts linked to the Covid-19 crisis.
The bar for companies accessing taxpayers' support in a bespoke and significant way is extraordinarily high and should be extremely rare.
A support like that would come with significant strings attached.
It's not something that's an attractive, long term feature of the economy and if we're in a situation like that one would obviously expect financial investors and creditors to significantly share in the burden.
11.31am BST
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been speaking to Bloomberg TV which pressed him on whether the thought enough had been done to help the UK economy.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV, he said the most important thing for the economy now is to safely" reopen it, saying this will support billions of jobs in hospitality, leisure and retail.
I've always been clear that I can't protect every job, every business despite the unprecedented action that we've taken.
What we do know is that household balance sheets, consumer deposits, consumer credit, all the numbers we have on that are relatively strong and healthy.
What we don't know yet is whether people will have the confidence yet to get back to doing all those things and I think that's the critical thing that we need to make sure is there to help drive the recovery.
Obviously the government can do things to help with the recovery. The prime minister will be making a speech later as well. I will be outlining further things in the coming weeks.
11.03am BST
As the Times' James Hurley points out, funds routed through Wirecard Card Solutions in the UK are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (which usually covers deposits of up to 85,000).
However, the FCA actions today should help protect any consumer cash, including those on pre-paid cards that use its services:
Useful list here of prepaid cards run by Wirecard UK. These funds are all now frozen. Money SHOULD be safe in segregated accounts, as long as there has been no funny business with it. Not protected under FSCS. https://t.co/qyKWYK7Xee
10.41am BST
Meanwhile, the former number two executive of German payments giant Wirecard has fled to China, my colleague Mark Sweney writes.
Jan Marsalek, a former board member and chief operating officer under suspicion in Germany over Wirecard's accounting scandal, reportedly flew to the Philippines on Wednesday.
What is really bothersome is the fact that it appeared in the database of BI. We want to find out exactly if he arrived here or there was only a glitch or something, but there were certain details appearing in the database, like the aircraft that carried him to Manila and his departure from Cebu via a specific airline going to China.
10.20am BST
The Financial Conduct Authority has imposed restrictions on Wirecard's UK subsidiary, Wirecard Card Solutions, which it says will protect customer cash.
The City watchdog has declared that the UK subsidiary, which is based in Newcastle:
Our primary objective is to protect the interests and money of consumers who use Wirecard.
Following last week's news of 1.9 billion missing from the accounts of the German company, Wirecard, we immediately placed requirements on the firm's UK business so that it should not pay out or reduce any money it holds for its customers except on their instructions.
10.14am BST
If this turns into something, this has got to be the biggest fall-out from the Wirecard scandal. https://t.co/6BTNScYBXk
10.12am BST
The EU is set to investigate Germany's financial regulator over the way it regulated the scandal-hit tech giant Wirecard.
You'll remember that yesterday the company filed for insolvency after failing to reach a deal with lenders for funding.
We will be asking Esma to investigate whether there have been supervisory failures and if so to set out a possible course of action.
We need to clarify what went wrong.
9.43am BST
Brits bought 60% more bikes in April as the nation turned to two-wheeled transport during the coronavirus lockdown, my colleague Sarah Butler writes.
Government advice to avoid public transport and to keep cars off the road led to a complete turnaround in the cycle market.
9.26am BST
With administration looming, Intu shares have plunged nearly 60% today to record lows of around 1.7p.
The shopping owner's share price has collapsed by more than 95% since January.
Many retail premises will not be able to reopen with the same capacity levels as before the pandemic and there will almost certainly be fewer customers in a number of sectors.
Some retailers have shut up shop for good already this year, and forecasts suggest that around 20,000 retail units could close by year end, with the vast majority on the high street or in shopping centres. Retail parks and standalone shops are relatively unscathed.
8.52am BST
Tesco sales soared during lockdown as shoppers switched to buying online, in local stores as well as returning to big weekly shops at the supermarkets, my colleague Sarah Butler writes.
The UK's biggest supermarket chain said UK sales at established stores rose 8.7% in the three months to 30 May with sales of food increasing by 12% while clothing sales dived by a fifth. Online sales rose by 48.5% and sales in convenience stores jumped 10%.
In the last three months the industry has changed beyond imagination.
8.36am BST
A lot to catch up on this morning, including French consumer confidence, which rose more than expected in June.
The INSEE official statistics agency said the reading came in at 97, higher than expectations for a reading of 95 and higher than 93 in May.
8.15am BST
Not great news for corporate gender diversity:
Karen Hubbard is stepping down from Card Factory after four years. This means there are now ZERO women at the top of any FTSE listed retailers. This is despite 60% of the 3m retail workforce being female & women making 80% of all purchasing decisions. https://t.co/TiT6xXfhcz
Karen and the board have agreed that this is an appropriate time to transition to new leadership committed to the longer term successful implementation of the next phase of the Group's return to growth.
The board and Karen have therefore agreed that she will step down as CEO and from the board at the end of June and a search for a successor will commence immediately.
8.04am BST
Intu Properties said on Friday it was likely to go into administration after the shopping centre owner failed to secure an agreement with its creditors, my colleague Zoe Wood writes.
The company, whose centres include Lakeside in Essex and the Trafford Centre in Manchester, has debts of more than 4.5bn and said it had been unable to persuade lenders to grant a debt repayment holiday before Friday night's deadline. The company owns a total of 17 shopping centres across the UK.
Since that update, discussions have continued with the Intu Group's creditors in relation to the terms of standstill-based agreements. Unfortunately, insufficient alignment and agreement has been achieved on such terms.
The board is therefore considering the position of Intu with a view to protecting the interests of its stakeholders. This is likely to involve the appointment of administrators.
Related: Shopping centre owner Intu expected to go into administration
8.02am BST
And European markets are open for trading:
7.54am BST
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
Equity investors in both Asia and Europe seem unfazed by the results from the US Federal Reserve's much-anticipated bank stress tests, covering the country's 34 largest lenders
The Fed will allow US banks to continuing paying dividends but they will be capped at their current levels, but there is chatter that dividends will be cut.
If banks want to pay dividends, they must have a formula that is connected to their earnings. The next round of the reporting season will be interesting as dividend polices and provisions for bad loans will be in focus.
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