Share gains fade as stocks markets stay on edge over virus

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Sharp rises on US and European stock markets on Friday have begun to fade despite fresh attempts by authorities to ease the economic pain caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Wall Street's Dow Jones opened 5% up, while markets in London, Paris, and Frankfurt had traded 7% higher.

But the main US indexes drifted lower to about 3% up, while the FTSE 100 closed 2.5% higher.

It comes a day after Wall Street suffered its biggest losses since 1987.

Investors fear economies could slide into recession as a result of the pandemic and steps to tackle it.

In many countries business has been disrupted, events cancelled and schools closed in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.

On Friday, the European Union said it will put in place a package of measures, including a €37bn euro (£33bn) investment initiative.

And German finance minister Olaf Scholz said his country could part nationalise firms to tackle the crisis.

'Whatever we need'
In the US, Congress is expected to vote later today on a bill that will provide sick pay and short-term loans for those affected by the outbreak, among other measures.

US Secretary Steven Mnuchin pledged the US would use "whatever tools we need".

In an interview with US broadcaster CNBC, he said he believed the coronavirus slowdown would be short-term and said the situation in 1987, when markets dropped some 20%, was a "much scarier time