Moody's on Friday cut the rating on Britain's debt a notch to Aa3, citing a weakening economy "exacerbated" by Brexit.

Britain's chief Brexit negotiator David Frost on Thursday said London was "disappointed" at European leaders' insistence that it should keep its word and implement the Brexit treaty in full.

Chief EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said Thursday he had invited his British counterpart to resume trade talks next week, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson's threat to walk away.

European leaders insisted Thursday that Britain must implement the terms of its existing Brexit withdrawal treaty, European Council president Charles Michel said after the first stage of an EU summit.

Wall Street dove in early trading on Thursday amid pessimism over chances for a new U.S. economic stimulus measure and a surprise rise in jobless benefit claims.

New applications for U.S. jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week to 898,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

European Union leaders on Thursday placed the onus on Britain to unblock stalled post-Brexit trade talks, urging London to "make the necessary moves" to answer their concerns.

In a written conclusion adopted at their summit, the 27 leaders also urged the EU and its member states to step up preparations to protect their interests in the event Britain leaves the single market without a deal.

France and the Netherlands jointly urged EU regulators on Thursday to limit the power of Silicon Valley giants like Google and Facebook, and break them up if necessary.

The global economic crisis will not be quite as grim as feared this year, but GDP will still contract 4.4 percent and the ongoing pandemic means the outlook remains uncertain, the IMF said Tuesday.

Brussels said Tuesday that negotiations for a post-Brexit trade deal could yet take weeks, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's self-declared deadline was about to expire.