US President Tump presser due at 2100 GMT

The fear surrounding the Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in broad swathes of the US economy grinding to a halt and a US recession is now unavoidable. Weekly initial jobless claims spiked 70,000 or 33% to 281,000, but a much bigger surge is likely this week.

Today, markets will tune in for the latest from the US President, Donald Trump, with updates pertaining to the COVID-19 crisis and potential details on an economic relief package as voting takes place in the Senate today.

• What you need to know for the open: COVID-19 lockdown and world recession looms

Market implications

There is a flight to cash and liquidity which has drawn inflows into the US dollar, pushing the DXY to a pip away from the 103 handle last week and sending the S&P 500 down to a 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the GFC recovery.