Weekly review

Equity view

Computacenter said business had improved further since late April and that the first half of 2020 would be well ahead of the same period a year earlier.

National Express said revenue halved in April but that earnings and cash flow were better than expectations.

Signature Aviation - formerly BBA Aviation - reported a slump in April flying activity on Friday amid the coronavirus lockdown but said there had been an improvement in May.

Hargreaves Lansdown said it was sticking with its dividend policy as the investment platform reported £4bn of net new business for the four months to the end of April.

Housebuilder and regeneration partner Countryside Properties reported a fall in half-year profit and revenue on Thursday as it pointed to lost completions and land sales in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Marston's said it had agreed an extra £70m of credit to boost liquidity during the coronavirus shutdown as the brewer and pub operator scrapped dividends for 2020.

German business park operator Sirius Real Estate said it would pay a dividend as rent and service charge collection hit 98.8% of normal levels in April despite coronavirus pandemic lockdowns.

Accounting software company Sage reported a jump in half-year profit on Wednesday thanks to strong growth in software subscription revenue, but said business began to be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak towards the end of March.

Ultra Electronics said on Wednesday trading remains broadly in line with expectations despite the challenging backdrop.

Concrete and landscaping specialist Marshalls said up to 400 jobs were under threat due to the coronavirus pandemic as it looked to restructure operations with some site closures.

Spirax-Sarco said profit fell in the first four months of 2020 as the Covid-19 crisis hit its business and predicted worse to come from the effects of the pandemic.

Morrisons kept its dividend options on hold as the supermarket group reported an increase in like-for-like sales for the first quarter fuelled partly by the Covid-19 crisis.

Ryanair said it would restore 40% of its scheduled flights from 1 July with crew and passengers required to wear face masks and pass temperature tests.

Property developer Land Securities pulled its final dividend and warned of tenant failures across its portfolio as the coronavirus crisis contributed to wider full year losses of almost £1bn in an already struggling market.

Standard Life Aberdeen said it had a small underlying net inflow of funds in the first four months of 2020 despite stock market declines.

TI Fluid Systems said it would pay its final dividend after Covid-19 customer shutdowns caused revenue to fall 16% in the company's first quarter.

Polymetal has agreed to sell its North Kaluga polymetallic deposit in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia for around $27m.

Diploma pulled its interim dividend and said April revenue had slumped by more than a quarter as it warned of an uncertain second half amid the coronavirus crisis.

Victrex deferred its interim dividend as it reported lower first-half profit and pressure on its order book from the Covid-19 crisis.

Economic news

The UK and the European Union may not be able to reach an agreement on Brexit if Brussels insists on new and unbalanced approach based on requiring "a level playing field", the country's top negotiator said.

Retail activity declined by almost 2% in the four days following the easing of lockdown restrictions but footfall increased in coastal and historic towns as people took their cue to venture out, a survey showed.

House prices fell in April as buyers and sellers pulled out of transactions during the Covid-19 market shutdown, an industry survey showed.

UK councils fear that they will have to cut their annual budgets by 20% and face a social care funding shortfall of £3.5bn across the local government social care sector in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis

The UK economy shrank at a record pace in March in an early sign of the deep recession that will hit jobs and living standards, official figures showed.

UK green energy companies are set to deliver multi-billion pound wind farm investments across the north-east of England and Scotland to help power the new economy through clean energy.

The Bank of England may ease monetary policy still further after cutting interest rates to new record lows during the Covid-19 crisis, Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent said.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until the autumn, it was announced on Tuesday.

Retail footfall suffered a record 80% slump in April as Covid-19 lockdown measures hit high streets, shopping centres and retail parks, a survey showed.

Price declines for London's upmarket properties accelerated for the first time in more than a year as the Covid-19 crisis snuffed out tentative signs of revival, a survey showed.

International events

The eurozone economy shrank by a record 3.8% in the first quarter as Covid-19 lockdowns caused activity to grind to a near halt.

US retail sales collapsed last month as lockdowns to brake the Covid-19 pandemic's advance across the country kept consumers indoors and Americas kept their wallets shut even as many were forced to join unemployment queues.

Easing of lockdown measures has improved the outlook for oil but demand is still likely to suffer a record fall in 2020, the International Energy Agency said in its latest report.

Eurozone industrial production suffered its worst monthly fall on record in March as Italian output tumbled, according to figures released by Eurostat on Wednesday.

Brussels is calling for European Union member states to gradually lift restrictions on the freedom of movement, including measures - such as quarantines - for the ailing airline industry.

The head of America's central bank said that further fiscal support for the economy may be needed in order to avoid the long-term scarring that a recession as deep as the current one may leave on the economic fabric of the country.

Optimism among small business in the US has hit a seven-year low, according to a widely-watched survey published on Tuesday, battered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The cost of living in the US fell more quickly than expected last month, amid sharp drops in the price of energy, apparel and transportation services.

Spain's economy minister called for a common European Union effort to prop up the struggling airline sector with the aim of maintaining a 'level playing field'.

Industrial production in the euro area's third-largest economy shrank in March at a its quickest pace since at least 1990.