Seven days in the Square Mile

The New York Stock Exchange reopened its Wall Street trading floor after closing for two months for the first time in its 228-year history. Around 100 traders were assigned desks behind Plexiglas screens. The reopening coincided with further gains on global stock markets – heartened by the easing of lockdowns and the prospect of further government stimulus plans. The EU proposed a major recovery fund worth

The IMF forecasts that world economic production will plunge by 7.5% this year, reflecting the devastating consequences of lockdown. British public sector borrowing in April smashed all previous monthly records at £62.1bn: total UK debt now stands at 97.7% of GDP. Amid rumours the BoE could resort to negative base rates, £3.8bn worth of three-year gilts were shifted at -0.003%. Shares in Aston Martin, down 94% since 2018, jumped on news that CEO Andy Palmer has been replaced by former Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers. Fellow carmaker McLaren said it would cut 1,200 jobs – over a quarter of its workforce. EasyJet founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, failed to oust the airline’s chairman and CEO in a shareholder vote. US authorities arrested a former soldier and his son – wanted in Japan for allegedly helping the ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee last December. Elon Musk’s company, Space X, prepared to send two US astronauts into space – the first crewed space launch from US soil in nearly a decade.