US stocks fell tonight as New York State followed California in ordering non-key workers to stay at home and the UK caught up with the rest of Europe by ordering the closure of pubs and cafes to fight the deadly Covid-19 outbreak.

Shares in AIB posted crisis-era losses as international investors assessed the damage to the economy and the loan books of the country’s banks from the fallout of the Covid-19 crisis.

Shares in Irish consumer food group Greencore jumped by as much as nearly 7% after it said it has not suffered any disruption to its supply chain or production network.

The much-maligned Samcro got the better of Melon in a thrilling finish to the Marsh Novices' Chase, the opening race of the third day of the 2020 Cheltenham Festival.

There could be a "significant reduction" in the building of new commercial and private rented sector properties - typically apartment blocks sold to big international investment funds - if the coronavirus outbreak continues to prompt a fall in the value of Irish property-related share prices, Davy has said.

AIB had about 9,500 staff at the end of 2019. Most of the cuts will come from teams working on reducing the bank’s bad loans and “head office” type job.

For almost half an hour Davy Fitzgerald sat perched on the edge of his seat in Chadwicks Wexford Park yesterday, although he sat up that bit straighter when talk turned from how hurling is officiated to how the game is played and coached.

Irish agri-services group Origin Enterprises has warned that its full-year profits will be “significantly” short of target.

Providence Resources is once again looking for fresh money, saying it is “considering its funding options” as it only has sufficient working capital to cover its costs through to the end of next month.

Irish building materials giant CRH may be well-placed to tap the billions of pounds in UK transport and infrastructure spending sanctioned by Boris Johnson.

The benchmark ISEQ Index slid as much as 1.4%, with Bank of Ireland Group Plc and AIB Group Plc falling as much as 7.8% and 6%, respectively.

Building insulation specialist Kingspan will need to spend around €1bn on acquisitions over the next two years in order to maintain share price momentum, according to Davy.

Shares in Irish fuels-to-healthcare group DCC could hit the £100 (€118) mark within two or three years, Davy Stockbrokers has forecast.

Clare manager Colm Collins joins Mark Landers, Michael Moynihan, Tony Leen and Anthony Daly to review the weekend's Allianz League action.

Phoney War or Cold War? A bit of both, really.

Honeysuckle was forced to work harder than she ever has before to maintain her unbeaten record in the PCI Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.

So much will happen between lunch time today and dinner time tomorrow that looking backwards to last week and as far back as last weekend seems pointless with how much the future has to offer.

Rory O’Connor has revealed how he displayed his inter-county credentials to Wexford boss Davy Fitzgerald as an 18-year-old by wrestling Matthew O’Hanlon to the ground in training.

Shannon-based engineering services group Mincon is eyeing further expansion into the specialist area of geotechnical engineering on the back of its €8m acquisition of Finnish company Lehti.

C&C shares sank by nearly 4.5% as investors reacted negatively to news that the drinks group is looking for a chief executive following the sudden departure of Stephen Glancey.