The United Kingdom's new finance minister Rishi Sunak will pledge billions of pounds to fight the effects of coronavirus on Wednesday, and the Bank of England might add its firepower to the attempt to stave off the risk of a new recession.

The global business travel sector is expected to take a revenue hit of about $820bn, with China accounting for nearly half of the losses, as corporates curb travel plans in the face of the coronavirus epidemic, an industry body said on Tuesday.

Tata Steel Europe is planning to cut 1,250 jobs as it faces "challenging circumstances" and "needs to urgently improve profitability", Chief Executive Officer Henrik Adam said in an internal memo seen by Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

United States stocks sold off sharply on Thursday. As large swings in the market continued due to uncertainty over the spread of the coronavirus and its economic fallout, shares of banks and travel companies lost value.

Alphabet Inc's Google on Thursday joined Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc and Microsoft Corp in recommending employees in the Seattle area work from home, after many were infected with the coronavirus in the region.