Coronavirus brings welcome change to global priorities

'Opportune entry point'

The peak of the US stockmarket was as recent as 19 February. The average time to enter a bear market is 136 days.

This time, it took little more than 20 trading days. For investors, the speed of decline is particularly disorientating. However, three things are worth remembering. First, the 27% fall from peak for the world equity index probably discounts much of the damage and the impact will ultimately be temporary. Second, the government and central bank response will be massive. The fiscal response could be very large, with Chancellor Sunak's aggressive and confident UK Budget potentially becoming something of a global template. Market Movers Blog: US markets trigger circuit-breaker on open ...