Market moves: Chancellor Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering measures to help the “squeezed middle” of UK corporates, while US president Donald Trump’s tweets set off a spike in oil prices.

While UK banks suspended dividend payments amid pressure from the regulator, European markets returned to volatile conditions. Meanwhile, FTSE 350 companies’ defined benefit schemes reached an accounting surplus.

Analysis of private debt markets suggests that with certain sectors of borrowers struggling with cash flows, lenders will have to be flexible and rely on well-written covenants. Meanwhile, actuaries are looking to help fight the global pandemic.

On the go: Advertising giant WPP has entered a £250m buy-in contract with the Pension Insurance Corporation, adding to a £140m transaction already completed with the same insurer in 2018.

The Pensions Administration Standards Association has urged providers to prioritise the payment of pensions as it struggles with the challenges of working remotely, while the Covid-19 pandemic could affect the automotive industry and financial instruments backing lease deals. Elsewhere in our round-up of daily market moves and pensions updates, one asset manager says schemes should be wary of inferring a bounceback from calming stock markets.

The Pensions Regulator has launched new guidance aimed at helping employers freeze their defined benefit obligations for three months in response to the economic fallout from coronavirus.

The Bank of England's prediction of a deep recession, and grim news in the US labour market, looked to have cooled the bounce-back in equity markets before a late surge, while new analysis suggests further pain for credit markets if the pandemic worsens, and actuaries call on the Pensions Regulator to do more. Read our round-up of pensions and finance news about the coronavirus outbreak.