FTSE 100 FALLS AFTER RECESSION WARNING FROM RISHI SUNAK Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday issued his sober review of an economy slammed by a record pace of job losses and bracing for

worse ahead as most U.S. states moved toward reopening following lockdowns aimed at curbing the spread of the virus. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures.HSIc1 slipped 0.92 percent,

Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 1.07 percent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.05 percent. “We’re picking up from what was a negative session in offshore markets - New

York in particular,” said Ray Attrill, head of foreign exchange strategy for National Australia Bank in Sydney. A pushback against Powell’s “downbeat assessments” about U.S. economic risks

of the idea of using negative interest rates pushed the U.S. dollar higher against a basket of currencies. The US Dollar Currency Index, which measures the greenback’s strength against six

major currencies, was up 0.23 percent. FOLLOW OUR LIVE UPDATES HERE: FTSE 100 LIVE: Asian shares have fallen (Image: GETTY) 9.30PM UPDATE: 76 PERCENT OF FIRMS APPLY FOR FURLOUGH SCHEME – ONS

CONFIRMS More than three-quarters of British firms have applied for the government's emergency job retention scheme to help them through the coronavirus lockdown, according to an

official survey. The Office for National Statistics confirmed a huge 76 percent of the companies have now applied for the scheme – up from 66 percent in the previous fortnight. 8.00PM

UPDATE: MIXED NEWS FOR US MARKETS The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 157.61 points, or 0.68 percent to 23,405.58. The S&P 500 gained 6.31 points, or 0.22 percent to 2,826.31. The

Nasdaq Composite dropped 18.64 points, or 0.21 percent to 8,844.53. 7.30PM UPDATE: EUROPEAN STOCKS HIT THREE-WEEK LOW The pan-European STOXX 600 closed down 2.2 percent to hit its lowest

level since April 22. 6.45PM UPDATE: POUND CRASHES AGAINST US DOLLAR AND EURO – WORST YET TO COME The pound continues to tumble against the US dollar and euro as the coronavirus crisis puts

the UK economy on the brink of a recession - with one expert warning "the worst is yet to come". Sterling is in its fourth consecutive day of losses and is the worst performing G10

currency so far this month. The pound has fallen more than three percent against the US dollar since the end of April. Meanwhile against the euro, the pound hit a six-week low on Wednesday

and has failed to make any significant gains this afternoon. Vassilis Karamanis FX & Rates Strategist at Bloomberg warned the pound is showing little sign of recovery and predicts a

further slide is one the way. He said: “As the pound extends the deepest slump among developed-world currencies. “A host of market indicators are converging to suggest the worst is yet to

come.” 5.30PM UPDATE: FTSE 100 DAILY TREND 9am: 5804.1 - down 100.0 11am: 5783.4 - down 120.7 1pm: 5738.7 – down 165.3 3pm: 5669.1 - down 234.9 5pm: 5741.5 down 162.5 5.00PM UPDATE: FTSE 100

CLOSES The FTSE 100 index has closed down 162.51 at 5741.54. 4.10PM UPDATE: WHO WARNS SUNAK OF VICIOUS CYCLE OF ECONOMIC AND HEALTH DISASTERS Britain could be on the brink of an economic

and public health disaster if coronavirus lockdown restrictions are lifted too early, a World Health Organisation (WHO) chief has warned. Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s

emergencies program, has issued a stark message to world leaders that lifting restrictions prematurely risks a “vicious cycle” of economic and health problems. At a press conference in

Geneva, Dr Ryan also insisted it is a “false equation” to choose between finances and people’s lives. He said: “This is what we all fear, is a vicious cycle of public health disaster

followed by economic disaster followed by public health disaster followed by economic disaster. “If you reopen in the presence of a high degree of virus transmission, then that transmission

may accelerate.” 3.30PM UPDATE: FTSE 100 LATEST The FTSE 100 as of 2:45pm was down 205.28 at 5698.77. 2.05PM UPDATE: UK WARNED OF VAST BORROWING  Government borrowing could hit £298.4billion

this due to the coronavirus crisis, the Office for Budget Responsibility has stated.  This is an increase from £272.9billion which was predicted last month due to the extension fo the

furlough scheme.  US 'DOING MORE' TO ‘DEEPEN CONTAINMENT’ OF CHINA SAYS HISTORIAN 1.52PM UPDATE: US UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS RISE US unemployment numbers continued to rise after the

country's Labor Department reported a further 2.981 million people applied for benefits for the week ending May 9.  The week before saw 3.176 million applied for unemployment while the

country lost 20.5 million jobs in April.  1.38PM UPDATE: FRANCE UNVEILS HUGE PACKAGE TO SAVE TOURISM The French government has unveiled a package worth €18billion (£15.9billion) package to

help the industry which has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.  Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said: "Tourism is facing what is probably its worst challenge in modern history.

  "Because this is one of the crown jewels of the French economy, rescuing it is a national priority. "This very French pleasure, which is at the heart of our identity, to meet up,

eat well and have a chat, has been compromised by the lockdown first, and then the conditions of lifting that lockdown." 12.50PM UPDATE: FTSE 100 CONTINUES FALL  As of 12.50pm, the

stock exchange is 160.49 points down and trading at 5,743.92.  FTSE 100: Rishi Sunak extended the furlough scheme this week (Image: PA) 12.42PM UPDATE: PUBLIC SECTOR BORROWING RISES The

Office for Budget Responsibility has revealed a public sector borrowing could stand at £298.4billion in a scenario where the lockdown last for three months followed by a three-month period

whereby restrictions are lifted.  This figure represents a £25.5billion increase in the previous forecast.  11.32AM UPDATE: PAYMENT HOLIDAYS MAY AFFECT FUTURE MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS Taking a

payment on a mortgage or any form of debt may have an effect on future application, research by MoneySavingExprt.com suggests.  Despite promises that credit scores would not be affected, a

lender may still factor in the mortgage freeze on future applications.  Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed, sadly, that

while credit files shouldn't be impacted by mortgage or other payment holidays, lenders are still allowed to take them into account when making their acceptance decisions.

"It's impossible to say yet how widespread this will be or how substantial the impact will be - we'll start to learn that over the next year. Each lender's assessment

process is different, it's a dark art that's hidden from the public and never published, so this is likely to be yet another factor applicants will need to navigate." FTSE 100

INDEX VALUE FLUCTUATES AS OIL PRICE STEADIES 10.32AM UPDATE: HONG KONG STOCK INDEX SUFFERS DROP  Hong Kong's, Hang Seng Index finished trading 350.56 points down (1.45 percent) to

23,829.74 points.  10.12AM UPDATE: FTSE 100 CONTINUES  As of 10.03am this morning, the FTSE 100 has fallen by 128.93 points to 5,773.87 (2.2 percent).  9.15AM UPDATE: EUROZONE BOND YIELDS

FALL Eurozone bond yields continued to fall today as markets continued to fear a second wave.  Due to a rise in outbreaks in China and South Korea, 10-year German bond yields dropped two

points. Italian 10-year bond yields were unchanged at 1.81% after falling 9 basis points on Wednesday. UniCredit analysts said: "Given that the data calendar remains very light again

today, and primary market activity will also be quiet in the euro area, with only Ireland set to sell bonds, we expect eurozone government bond yields to trade broadly sideways." MERVYN

KING: BRITAIN ‘FORTUNATE’ TO NOT BE IN MONETARY UNION 8.49AM UPDATE: SHANGHAI COMPOSITE INDEX DROPS  The Shanghai Stock Exchange has finished 0.96 percent down today. The market finished at

2,870.34, down 27.71 points in trading.  8.11AM UPDATE: FTSE 1100 DROPS  The FTSE 100 has begun trading today at 5,828.31, 79.54 points down (1.28 percent) at the time of writing.  7.21AM

UPDATE: DONALD TRUMP WARNS TRADE DEALS CAN'T OUTWEIGH COVID-19 In a tweet, the US President said the benefits from the trade deal with China were outweighed by what he termed as the

"plague from China".  He said: "As I have said for a long time, dealing with China is a very expensive thing to do. "We just made a great Trade Deal, the ink was barely

dry, and the World was hit by the Plague from China. "100 Trade Deals wouldn’t make up the difference - and all those innocent lives lost!" FTSE 100: Steve Mnuchin warned the US

economy could be at risk (Image: PA) 7.09AM UPDATE: "RISK TO US ECONOMY OF REOPENING TOO SLOWLY" Steve Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary has said the economy will be reopened

slowly but warned taking too long will risk severe economic damage.  Mr Mnuchin said: "We're going to slowly open the economy.  "But there is also a risk that we wait too

long, there is a risk of destroying the US economy and the health impact that that creates." _ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RACHEL RUSSELL AND BILL MCLOUGHLIN_ 6.19AM UPDATE: FED'S

POWELL SHOWS NO LOVE FOR NEGATIVE RATES Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had a clear message to interest rate futures traders on Wednesday: Bets that the U.S. central bank will pursue a

negative interest-rate policy are off-base. The Fed’s top official became the latest in a parade of policymakers to brush off the notion that they might push rates into negative territory

after futures tied to Fed interest rate policy expectations recently began pricing a small chance of sub-zero U.S. rates within the next year. “The committee’s view on negative rates really

has not changed. This is not something that we are looking at,” Powell said in answer to a question during an event hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, as he

referenced the Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). A number of major central banks - including the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank - have implemented

negative-rate policies in the years since the 2007-2009 financial crisis because their sluggish economies have failed to produce the desired level of inflation.