World stocks tumble after Trump tests coronavirus positive

Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell between 1 per cent and 2.2 per cent when trading began on Friday, after Donald Trump tweeted he and his wife had contracted COVID-19.

Mr Trump tweeted: “ Tonight FLOTUS (First Lady of the US) I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER”.

In London, the FTSE 100 index recovered some ground  being down 0.2 per cent at 5, 866.01  in early afternoon trade. In France the Cac-49 is trading down 0.9 per cent, while  Germany’s DAX index is 1.1  per cent down.