The economic analysis of the potential impact of Covid 19 remains up in the air, combining the maths of infectious disease with speculation about the efficacy of health system responses.

The dollar retains the upper hand on foreign exchange markets, with the currency hitting three-year highs on a trade-weighted basis in recent days.

The Federal Reserve Board has said that the coronavirus outbreak presents a "new risk" to the economic outlook for the US and warned of disruptions in global markets.

The dollar has been at elevated levels for the past five years.

The greatest threat to the global economy is not rising interest rates or financial excesses, but unforeseen actions in areas like trade or geopolitics, writes Raghuram G Rajan

We live in a world where investors often operate with incredibly short time horizons.

Economists are divided about when the next US recession will arrive, but they largely agree on this: The country will need to fight it with a massive fiscal programme, and be ready to swallow deficits that may eclipse the trillion-dollar shortfall run by the Trump administration this year.

A marked improvement in risk appetite has been a noticeable feature of financial markets this month, leading to a sharp rise in bond yields with equities making good ground.

Growth in UK-exposed Irish stocks slowed yesterday and sterling was unmoved against the euro, after two days of rises, amid warnings that the chance of a no-deal Brexit occurring at the end of next month remains significant.

Global markets and oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump ordered American companies to exit China after Beijing unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75bn (€67bn) in US goods, throwing a new twist into the bitter trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

Global economic concerns have been very much to the forefront of the market discourse over the past number of weeks.

No capitalist economy has yet organised for itself arrangements that ensure labour market wages are perceived universally as fair; as day follows night, there will always be a class of workers convinced that their pay — or, for the managerial classes, salary — does not reward sufficiently the value of their labour, and that another group is laughing all the way to the bank clutching needlessly generous remuneration packages.

The meeting last week of the US Federal Reserve saw the central bank cut interest rates for the first time since 2008, writes John Fahey.

Tax returns for July will bring comfort for the time being to Paschal Donohoe and his October budget preparations despite Brexit fears, commentators said, as Vat and corporate tax revenues brought in more than was anticipated in the month.

The tension between the UK and Iran over the seizures of oil tankers in recent weeks pushed the price of oil higher, and helped boost the shares of major oil companies.

Buoyant stock markets continue to climb higher. The Euro Stoxx-50 is up 17% so far this year-to-date.

European stock markets turned lower as healthy US jobs report tempered expectations that the Federal Reserve would be in as much as a hurry as once thought to cut interest rates.

The dollar has remained at very high levels for the past four and a half years.

Global stockmarkets led by Asia joined in a relief rally after US president Donald Trump and China called a truce in their trade war.

Last week saw an array of comments from various central bankers trigger further strong gains in financial markets, with bond yields in Europe reaching all-time lows and the main stock market in the US hitting all-time highs.

US economic growth has accelerated in the first quarter, but the export and inventory boost to activity masked weakness in domestic demand, some of which appears to have prevailed in the current period.

Charlotte Ryan Sterling will tumble to levels not seen since 2017 against the euro as Brexit turmoil outweighs a dovish ECB, according to analysts.

Last week saw an array of comments from various central bankers trigger further strong gains in financial markets, with bond yields in Europe reaching all-time lows and the main stock market in the US hitting all-time highs.

Oil soared more than 5% higher yesterday after Iran shot down a US military drone, raising fears of a military confrontation between Tehran and Washington.

The US Federal Reserve has held interest rates steady but signalled possible rate cuts of as much as half a percentage point over the remainder of this year, as it responded to increased economic uncertainty and a drop in expected inflation.

Given the financial markets' increasing focus on global monetary policy, this week contains some key events for them to digest, with central bank meetings in the US, UK and Japan.

The chance of the ECB being forced into decisive action to cut interest rates increased significantly as market expectations for inflation “collapsed” to a new low, a leading economist has said.

Monetary easing has come very much back on to central bank radars.

Global shares rose on the belief more central banks will be forced to cut interest rates to shelter the global economy from the trade wars, but crash-out Brexit fears weighed heavily on sterling.

US stocks rose yesterday , led by a rebound in the technology sector, as Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would act as appropriate”to trade war risks, leaving the door open for a possible rate cut.

US stock indexes edged further into record territory today following more signs that the economy is growing in the way that investors love.

Colluding with Russia? The special counsel says no.

US stocks edged higher yesterday as shares of industrial and consumer discretionary companies rose, but gains were kept in check by worries of a global slowdown.

The Federal Reserve open market committee last week as expected left US interest rates unchanged but indicated it does not envisage hiking US interest rates this year.

Europe’s economic outlook has been thrown into fresh doubt after reports showed weakness across France and Germany.

US President Donald Trump has said trade negotiations with China are progressing and a final agreement “will probably happen”, adding that his call for tariffs to remain on Chinese imported goods for some time did not mean talks were in trouble.

The risk the UK will crash out of the EU at the end of next month has risen to “a significant 30%” but the most likely outcome is for a soft Brexit, according to a leading firm of economic forecasters.

A less aggressive posture from the world’s central banks, and moves by Chinese authorities to support economic growth, will assure a rebound in equities from the US to China, according to veteran economist Allen Sinai.

The dollar remains at high levels against a broad range of currencies.

Irish shares tapped a surprise early new year buying wave that sent the Iseq Overall index climbing 3%, reflecting huge gains for Bank of Ireland and housebuilder Glenveagh at the end of a week marked by global stock market tremors.

The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates last night and said it was keeping the core of its plan to tighten monetary policy intact even as central bank officials said they would likely slow the pace of further rate increases next year.

Rising bond yields in the US may not have many tangible effects on Irish consumers and business currently, but they are a salutary reminder that the price of debt can, and probably will, change.

With a rather good sense of timing, the IMF warned last week in its biannual global financial stability update that risks to the financial system have risen this year.