Feature

It has been a difficult 2020 for stockmarkets, as the world fights to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

The international spread of Covid-19 has spooked markets into some of their worst days since 1987.

We are concerned that the coronavirus could prove to be a headwind to short-term economic growth. At the moment, it is not clear whether the crisis will last a few months or longer.

While a global crisis in which large swathes of the world's population have been locked down will, inevitably, leave some companies floundering, others are likely to emerge stronger than before.

US equity markets have had their worst quarter since 2008.

As Covid-19 sweeps across the globe, a recession looks unavoidable.

Asia was first into the coronavirus crisis, with China officially reporting cases in mid-January, but it is showing encouraging signs that it may be the first to emerge from it.

Investors are grappling with the huge uncertainty caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic. The human and economic impact has been dramatic, both in its magnitude and in its velocity.

The speed and scale of the market decline has been the defining feature of this market downturn, although this has been matched in unprecedented rapidity of response by both central banks and governments.

Following the unprecedented falls across all financial markets in recent weeks, the safest government bond markets have had to become cash vaults for fund allocators trying to raise the liquidity needed to plug the fast-growing holes left by the equity,...