Global economy faces weakest growth in 30 years, warns IMF

House price growth was at its weakest annually since October 2019, according to lender Halifax.

It said the average sale price stood at £287,880 last month, with was 0.8pc up on February but only a 1.6pc annual gain.

It comes as rival lender Nationwide said house prices have fallen by 3.1pc in the biggest annual decline since July 2009.

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5) It’s time to abolish the virtue-signalling CBI | Fresh allegations expose the hypocrisy of corporate Britain’s obsession with ethics

What happened overnight 

Asian stocks sank while bonds and safe-haven currencies increased as mounting evidence of a US slowdown fuelled worries about a possible global recession.

Equity investors were inclined to take money off the table after recent strong gains and with many global markets heading into a holiday for Good Friday, when potentially pivotal US monthly payrolls data is due.

Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.3pc, making it the region’s worst performing major market alongside South Korea’s Kospi , which sank the same amount.

Chinese blue chips eased 0.4pc. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sagged 0.4pc, with tech shares on the index down 1pc.

Wall Street stocks delivered a mixed performance on Wednesday following the latest signals that the Federal Reserve could pause interest rate increases in response to a slowing US economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2pc to close at 33,482.72.

However, the broad-based S&P 500 finished 0.3pc lower at 4,090.38, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.1pc to 11,996.86.

The price of US Treasuries rose, pushing down yields as weaker-than-expected reports highlighted a slowdown in the US jobs market and services sector, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve could soon loosen monetary policy.

The 10-year yield dropped by as much as eight basis points, falling to a low of 3.26pc. It is the benchmark bond’s lowest level since mid-September.