Seven days in the Square Mile

US legislators were expected to give approval to the domestic $1.9trn relief package. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal predicted it would propel the economy to its fastest annual growth in nearly four decades – the average forecast for 2021 is now 5.95%. Reports of a rosier economic outlook helped propel the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which majors on “cyclical” sectors such as banks and commodities, to a near record high. But the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped into correction territory before roaring back mid-week.

The oil price shot to a 14-month high, above $70/barrel, after a Saudi Arabian crude facility – the largest in the world – was attacked by a drone launched by Yemeni rebels. The rise also reflects growing optimism about global recovery. The OECD forecast that the global GDP contraction in 2020 would be just 3.4%, much lower than originally feared, and predicted 5.6% growth in 2021.

The US gaming site Roblox prepared to launch on the New York Stock Exchange. The rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z bagged $297m, from a deal to sell his majority share in the music streamer Tidal to Jack Dorsey’s Square. The City fund manager Schroders reported that assets under management hit a record high of £574.4bn in 2020 – up 15% in a year. Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel held crisis talks with unions, and announced plans to furlough workers, to cushion the impact of the collapse of its main backer, Greensill Capital.