Wall Street posts heavy losses Finally, the New York stock market has posted heavy losses on the first day of the new quarter. The main indices have sunk over 4%, taking them down to one-week lows. Here’s Marketwatch’s take: Wednesday’s action comes as U.S. investors are coming to grips with the prospect of a long haul for the economy and the markets amid a pandemic that has been contracted by more than 800,000 people world-wide. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump warned that a “very, very painful” two weeks lie ahead for the country in face of a rapidly spreading COVID-19 epidemic, which originated in December in Wuhan, China and has brought much of the world to a screeching halt to slow the spread of the deadly pathogen. It appears that the clampdown on UK banks came JUST too late to prevent top executives receiving their bonuses - which will have run into millions of pounds for some. Hardly a consolation to small shareholders who just lost their dividend payments. My colleague Richard Partington explains: Millions of pounds of bank bonuses were paid out weeks before the Bank of England banned British lenders from offering cash rewards to their most senior executives as the coronavirus crisis escalates. In an intervention that sent banking shares tumbling on Wednesday amid renewed turbulence in financial markets, Threadneedle Street ordered Britain’s biggest high street banks late on Tuesday to cancel almost £8bn of dividend payments due to be made to investors this year, and told firms to scrap cash bonuses for top staff, or “material risk takers”. However, banking industry sources said the bulk of cash bonuses will have already landed in executives’ accounts, including as recently as last week at some of the biggest banks. According to a Guardian analysis of the bonus plans for employee performance at five of the UK’s biggest banks in 2019, which are payable this year, more than half a billion pounds of cash payouts had been earmarked for top executives. Insiders said bonuses are usually paid alongside bankers’ March pay cheques, including at the British firms with the biggest investment banking bonus pots – Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered.... In these extraordinary times, the Guardian’s editorial independence has never been more important. Because no one sets our agenda, or edits our editor, we can keep delivering quality, trustworthy, fact-checked journalism each and every day. Free from commercial or political bias, we can report fearlessly on world events and challenge those in power. Your support protects the Guardian’s independence. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to accurate news and calm explanation. No matter how unpredictable the future feels, we will remain with you, delivering high quality news so we can all make critical decisions about our lives, health and security – based on fact, not fiction. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. Make a contribution - The Guardian With an hour’s trading to go, Wall Street is still showing heavy losses. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 3.9%. Boeing is the top faller, down 12%, as the crisis in the airline sector rages on. American Express has lost 8.6%, on fears that a protracted lockdown will hurt consumer spending -- see also Apple’s 5% slide, and Visa’s 4.8% drop. These are dark times for Britain’s film industry - both those who produce movies, and those who help us see them: I failed to mention this earlier (despite my colleague Mark Sweney drawing it to my attention!) London-based Dazn, the sports-only streaming service owned by the billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik, is to defer payments for the rights to postponed events such as Champions League and Premier League that it has in various countries. The company, which has also moved to “furlough” an unspecified number of its 2,600 mostly UK-based staff, said it has taken the measures to “enable the business to survive this difficult time”. In another sign of economic woe, nearly one million people have applied for Universal Credit benefits since the government ordered pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops to close: Brent crude has had a bad day too, sliding by 5% to $24.87 per barrel right now. That reflects ongoing concern that the Covid-19 pandemic will hurt global demand, and that Saudi Arabia will maintain its price war and keep pumping. It’s a challenge for oil majors - and BP is responding by slashing billions of dollars off its spending: Full story: Virgin Atlantic bailout backed by Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Heathrow Here’s my colleague Gwyn Topham on the push to rescue Virgin Atlantic: Virgin Atlantic’s quest for a state bailout has been backed by some of aviation’s biggest companies, with the aerospace giants Airbus and Rolls-Royce as well as Heathrow all lobbying the government on the airline’s behalf. The trio have sent letters to the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, this week urging state assistance for Sir Richard Branson’s airline, which is seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in loans and credit guarantees with planes grounded and bookings vanishing because of coronavirus. Virgin has ordered a fleet of Airbus 330 aircraft, with Rolls-Royce engines, whose wings are made at the Airbus Broughton plant in north Wales. The airline also had plans before the coronavirus to expand at London Heathrow. In one of the letters, according to Sky News, John Harrison, the general counsel and UK chairman of Airbus, said that Virgin’s “collapse could have an extremely negative impact on the A330 programme”. He added: “As you will be aware, all wings for these aircraft are designed and manufactured in the UK, and orders from airlines like Virgin are vital for the continuation of our business.” Rolls-Royce has also stressed the “significant importance” of Virgin’s custom to the company and its UK supply chain. A Heathrow spokesperson confirmed that the airport had written on Virgin’s behalf, and said: “The government must take urgent steps now to safeguard the future of the sector or it will risk undermining the recovery of Britain’s economy once we beat the virus.” Here’s the full story: In other Airbus news.... the company has loaded more than 400,000 surgical masks destined on to trucks at its HQ in Toulouse, France, to help deal with the UK’s shortage of protective equipment for healthcare workers. The cargo is part of a batch of 6 million that have already been brought to Europe from China using several Airbus test aircraft. Airbus said it had established an air bridge to China to bring large quantities of surgical masks to Europe to support governments in the fight against COVID-19. The first UK consignment is due to arrive at Airbus’ Broughton site in North Wales on Friday. Here’s some footage of the masks being loaded. Construction Leadership Council, an industry body, is calling on construction companies to help the NHS by providing urgently needed protective equipment, such as face masks, visors, goggles, hand sanitizer and full body suits. But, it’s worth noting that some building sites are still open and workers have complained of having to work in crowded conditions, with little or no hand sanitizer available on site. Some have taken to social media to voice fears over their health and jobs. After the worst quarter since the financial crisis, US and European stock markets have made a poor start to Q2: Every European market fell, while Wall Street is deep in the red too. David Madden of CMC Markets explains that fears over the Covid-19 pandemic in the US and Europe are hurting shares. Stocks are sharply lower as health fears continue to loom over the markets. The first quarter was dreadful and the second quarter is starting off on a negative note. The Covid-19 related death toll in the US has overtaken that of China, and President Trump has warned about a ‘very, very painful two weeks’ ahead. The surge in stocks seen on the back of various stimulus plans from central banks, and rescue packages from governments around the globe seems like a distant memory, and traders are bracing themselves for a deepening health crisis. Germany has extended the nationwide lockdown until 19 April – it will prolong the economic pain in Europe’s largest country. He also points out that clouds are gathering over the airlines (Virgin is not alone!): It has been a tough few weeks for the airline sector, and today is no different, as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) cautioned the sector could incur a net loss of $39 billion in the second-quarter, should the flight restrictions last for three months. The IATA pointed out that fixed costs and semi-fixed costs in the industry equate to roughly 50% of airlines costs, so trimming expenses might not be easy. Wizz Air and easyJet are underperformers in the sector. Investors may need a swift drink from Beer Is Here, given today’s stock market action. The FTSE 100 has just ended the day down 217 points, or 3.8%, at 5454 - its lowest closing level in a week. Bank shares were hammered, after they were forced to cancel dividend payments and bonuses last night. Barclays and Lloyds both sank by 11%. Cruise operator Carnival was the worst performer, falling by 20% a day after warning that demand may never recover from the Covid-19 crisis.