Good morning from the Financial Times.

Today is Wednesday, April 1st,

and this is your FT news briefing.

Global markets closed out a brutal first quarter of trading yesterday.

On Wall Street, the 20% decline since the start of the year

marks the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

But as equity markets are hurting, investors are looking to Safhaven assets, especially the U.S. dollar.

The F.T.'s Jillian-T. will unpack the Federal Reserve's latest step to meet the global demand.

The Fed appears to be acting with extraordinary amount of freedom.

In fact, you might call it a rare example of American multilateralism, but without all the drama.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Donald Trump warned of a very painful two weeks ahead, citing new projections

that up to 240,000 Americans will die from the virus, even in the best case scenario.

There were about 857,000 confirmed cases around the world at the time of

this recording. And the rise in registered cases means that people are getting access to tests.

Something the FT science editor Clive Cookson says is crucial to track the spread

of the disease.

Plus, we'll have the rest of today's headlines.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

In recent weeks the value of the US dollar has risen sharply as investors have flocked to safe assets.

Companies have shored up dollars too as they try to offset the blow to revenues from economic shutdowns.

And yesterday the Federal Reserve took a new step to meet the global demand for dollars,

the F.T.'s Jillian Tett explains.

...