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3) Wife of advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell files for divorce: Lady Cristiana Falcone Sorrell and Sir Martin, former boss of advertising giant WPP, have been married for 12 years and have a young daughter.
4) Disney has announced the surprise early replacement of its chief executive Bob Iger, ending his 15-year run in charge of the global media giant. Mr Iger will be replaced by Bob Chapek, the head of Disney’s parks and travel business, who has been at the company for 27 years.
5) Public sector borrowing is set to soar by £23bn next year, forcing Chancellor Rishi Sunak to hike takes or scrap the Government’s rules on spending altogether, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned. The forecast of the UK’s leading fiscal referee said the deficit could surge to £63bn in 2020-21, rocketing above forecasts from last March.
What happened overnight
A sea of red washed across Asian markets on Wednesday, with the coronavirus spreading rapidly around the world and health chiefs warning that governments were not prepared for the outbreak.
The heavy selling, after a day of relative calm caused by bargain-buying, followed another rout on Wall Street where all three main indexes lost around three percent after officials said Cocid-19 would likely take hold in the United States.
Tokyo stocks ended the morning down more than 1pc, having shed more than 3pc on Tuesday, while Shanghai fell 0.2pc. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index eased 0.49 percent, or 132,46 points, to 26,760.77 by the break.
Sydney, Seoul and Wellington were all down more than one percent and Manila tumbled more than 3pc as it resumed trading after a one-day holiday. Jakarta, Taipei and Singapore were also well down.
Coming up today
Interim results: Metro Bank, Revolution Bars
Full-year: Avast, Law Debenture Corp, McColl’s, Restaurant Group (The), Rio Tinto, Serco, Taylor Wimpey, Weir Group, William Hill
Preliminary: Capital & Counties Properties, Nichols, Unite Group
Economics: New home sales (US)
