The Dow Jones index dropped by 1,191 points tonight -- the most in US history -- in the clearest sign yet that major global economies could likely be dragged into recession as the coronavirus turns into a pandemic.

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

The agri-services group Origin Enterprises says it has reached “conditional agreement” for the disposal of up to 31 acres of land it owns on Cork’s south docklands in to O'Callaghan Properties for up to €47.5m.

President Donald Trump and the Republicans’ tax cut is proving to be vastly more generous for corporate America, and vastly more expensive for taxpayers than expected.

At the end of a week overshadowed by global trade tensions, Irish shares clawed back some of their heavy losses. But the respite is likely to be shattered next week unless Theresa May secures an unlikely Brexit vote in the Commons on Tuesday.

One of last year’s top-performing European stocks has lost nearly half of its value in the past five months, yet short-sellers keep flocking to it.

European shares ended the day deep into the red after an early bounce, shaken by the appointment of eurosceptics at key positions in the Italian parliament and after German carmaker Daimler warned higher tariffs would hit profits.

Many commentators had been warning recently that stock markets looked to be heading for more turbulent times given stretched valuations, a prolonged period of uninterrupted gains, very low volatility and signs of a return of “irrational exuberance” in certain instances.

China's stock market benchmark plunged 5.5% on Friday and other Asian markets were off sharply after the Dow Jones industrials on Wall Street plummeted more than 1,000 points, deepening a week-long sell-off.

Some of the Irish stock market heavyweights swerved the global shares rout as US stock prices steadied following their precipitous Wall Street slide on Monday.

A long list of major Irish-controlled firms with stock market listings in Dublin and London are vulnerable to a further slide in consumer spending in the UK, writes Eamon Quinn.

The US stock market’s perfect start to the year has rolled on, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index shook off a bit of weakness to move further into record territory.

Three former Tesco executives are accused of “cooking the books” in a scandal which wiped £2bn (€2.25bn) off the super- market’s total share value and sent “shockwaves” through the stock market.

Technology stocks slammed into reverse on Monday overshadowing gains in other areas of the US market to send indexes lower.

Travel and leisure stocks dragged the London market lower as investors responded to Saturday's terror attack in the British capital.

Irish residential building firm Cairn Homes is backing up its rallying cry for more equity-led builders to drive growth in the housing market by seeking a primary share listing on the Irish Stock Exchange.

There is an eerie calm about financial markets at present. Currency and bond markets are quite range bound, while world stock markets hit new record highs in the past week.

A bad day for bank stocks pulled the Dow Jones industrial average to its third straight loss on Tuesday as many of the patterns that have propelled markets since election day last year snapped into reverse.

US stocks have come back from an early loss on Wall Street and finished almost unchanged.

The amount of very experienced investors asking for a hedge against a deep market correction is sentiment that cannot be ignored.

One of the biggest worries about this month’s sudden seizure in world markets is how puzzled investors have been left by it, and how many are just wishing it away as a temporary blip.

Chinese state media yesterday announced a slew of confessions following probes into recent stock market gyrations, including from a detained reporter who admitted to spreading false information that caused “panic and disorder”.

As a rollercoaster week on the financial markets comes to an end, we appear to be right back where we started, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

China’s turbulent stock markets slipped again yesterday, as a double-barrelled blast of central bank stimulus failed to convince investors of Beijing’s ability to jolt its economy out of its slowdown.

The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has confirmed that any stock market flotation of AIB is unlikely to take place until late spring or early summer 2016.