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Good morning. Details of what kind of stimulus will come from governments to deal with the virus outbreak remains the order of the day, along with ongoing restrictions to contain the disease’s spread and the crude oil price war. Here’s what’s moving markets.

Measures

European governments continue to take extreme measures to limit the spread of coronavirus. The most drastic ones are to be found in Italy’s country-wide lockdown, which has citizens questioning what they can and can’t do and authorities considering how much stimulus they’ll need to shore up the economy. That will help sharpen the focus on the European Central Bank’s Thursday meeting even more, one which some policymakers will have to phone into, and amid other authorities pondering a loosening of bank rules to in an effort to ease the burden on lenders already weakened by years of negative rates.

Stimulate

U.S. President Donald Trump is said to have told Republican senators that he wants a payroll tax holiday, designed to help ease the burden on household amid the virus outbreak, to run through the November election. The idea has already been doused in cold water by Democrats and struggled to get endorsement from Republicans, too. A dearth of details on the plans seems to be the problem and likely contributed to stocks giving up recovery gains on Tuesday and to stock futures and Treasury yields retreating again on Wednesday. Anything more concrete, like assistance for cruise firms and airlines, could have a big impact. But, again, the devil will be in the details.

Supertankers

It has been a wild ride in oil markets the past two days. It's unlikely to stop any time soon. Saudi Arabia is hiking its output significantly, so much so it needs new supertankers to carry it, and Russia is doing the same while also bringing forward foreign currency sales to guard against the battering dealt to the ruble by crude’s slump. Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest producer behind Saudi Arabia, is cutting prices, too. The price-war between the two is dividing countries into winners and losers, has drawn in Trump and the U.S.’s status as the world's top oil producer is at risk.

Budget Day

The U.K. has not announced a Budget since late 2018, delayed by Brexit deadlines and general elections, and the one that will arrive on Wednesday comes with great expectations. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, only in the job for around four weeks, is set to outline a huge increase in spending on rail, roads and the National Health Service accompanied by a massive increase in borrowing. Then there’s the virus, which one of the country’s health ministers has tested positive for. Spending related to this is likely to dominate proceedings as British businesses that have been put under pressure by the outbreak look to the government for help.

Coming Up…

Before the U.K.’s Budget is revealed, GDP figures will be reported. Earnings are topped by German sportswear giant Adidas AG, which will be very much worth scrutinizing for the health of the sports apparel market, and we'll have numbers from the increasingly Asia-focused insurer Prudential Plc. Insurers will be very much in focus, with reaction expected to the move by France's AXA SA to split its asset management arm in two and to the change of manager at Germany’s Allianz SE’s real estate arm.

What We’ve Been Reading

This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours. 

• Investors are buying tons and tons of gold.
• Banks feasting on equity derivatives amid the panic.
• Dip buyers have history on their side.
• The dangers of a corporate debt binge.
• African’s health-care systems prepare for COVID-19.
• Beef is taking a virus hit.
• Joe Biden’s lead looks all-but-insurmountable now.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net

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