And finally, the FTSE 250 index of medium-sized UK firms has closed at its highest level since last October.

The index ended the day at 19621, up 136 points or 0.7%, a level last seen before last autumn’s share selloff turned into a rout.

Builders’ supply firm Grafton led the way, up 6%, followed by Thomas Cook, up 5.4% on hopes of a dash to book summer holidays. Royal Mail (up 4.7%) and Dixons Carphone (+4.5%) were also among the top risers, amid hopes that Britain’s economy will avoid a no-deal crisis.

Travel firms also led the risers in the FTSE 100 index of top firms, with easyJet and TUI both closing around 8.2% higher, followed by British Airways’ parent company IAG.

The pound isn’t enjoying the uncertainty of a six-month extension, though - it’s down 0.2% against the US dollar tonight at $1.3061.

Goodnight! GW

Retail chain Ted Baker is under pressure to publish the report into the ‘forced hugs’ claims which forced founder Ray Kelvin to step down last month.

The company said this morning it would launch new training programmes for staff on “acceptable workplace conduct”, but isn’t revealing exactly what was discovered since Kelvin’s conduct was first criticised.

One investor has told us that the report shouldn’t be swept under the carpet.....

Clearly no-one told Primark that Britain’s suffering a high street crisis.

The discount fast-fashion chain opened its biggest ever store in Birmingham today -- all 160,000 square foot of it. And there was quite a party atmosphere, as my colleague Sarah Butler reports:

The five-floor building has three food venues, including a Disney-themed cafe, a Disney shopping area, a nailbar, hair and beauty studio in partnership with London’s Duck & Dry, a barbers and a Hogwarts Wizarding World area.

The store, developed from the former Pavilions centre which housed more than 49 shops, overtakes Primark’s 150,000sq ft Manchester store as it’s biggest outlet. The company has 365 stores across Europe and the US.

Lagarde has also swept aside the idea that Modern Monetary Theory could boost the world economy, saying she doesn’t think it would work for any country.

Over in Washington, IMF chief Christine Lagarde is holding a press conference to mark the start of the Spring Meeting with the World Bank.

She warns that the global economy has reached a ‘quite uncertain’ stage, given the recent slowdown. The Fund expects growth to recover in 2020, but this is subject to ‘downside risks’, Lagarde says.

But she’s not too downhearted. Asked about the IMF’s latest growth downgrades, she replies jauntily that “spring is in the air, and winter is not coming.”

Newsflash: UK chancellor Philip Hammond says he’ll be pushing for action on sustainable growth and climate change action, at the IMF/World Bank Spring Meeting this week.

In a statement just released, Hammond says:

“I will be in Washington this week to showcase our world-class expertise and experience in tackling some of the urgent challenges of our time, from climate change to trade and big data.

“Global Britain is at a turning point and our future is bright. We must work together with our partners across the world to create a safer, more prosperous and more sustainable economy for future generations.”

I spotted Hammond in the House of Commons a couple of hours ago, as Theresa May updated MPs on the new Brexit extension, so he’s presumably missing today’s action in Washington.

But once the chancellor arrives, he’ll be telling a new “Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action” that older generations need to do more.

Just one problem; a new government report has shown Britain’s on track to miss some of its own carbon reduction targets....

Newsflash from Washington: US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has said America and China haven’t resolved their trade war issues yet, despite fresh talks last week.

The Brexit bounce is pushing holiday stocks even higher.

TUI and easyJet are both up almost 8%, as traders anticipate a surge in holiday bookings now fears of an immediate hard Brexit are fading.

Newsflash: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefit has hit a new 49-year low.

Just 196,000 new initial claims applications were made last week, the lowest level since October 1969. That’s down from 204,000 the previous week.

This extends a long trend of falling claims, as the US recovered from the financial crisis. Today’s data show that the slowing global economy, and the trade war with China, hasn’t yet hurt the labour market.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of the manufacturing lobby group Make UK, has warned that some smaller businesses “won’t survive” a fresh Brexit delay until October.

That’s because they’ve already committed vital resources to handle a March Brexit, and will have borrowed capital to spend on stockpiling key raw materials and components.

Here’s the story:

Here’s Moody’s analyst Colin Ellis on Brexit:

Without immediate pressure for the UK Parliament to achieve consensus on the withdrawal terms, the willingness of UK politicians to agree a way forward may wane.

There is still no proposal for Brexit that presently commands a parliamentary majority; and the current state of uncertainty will continue to have credit negative effects on the UK economy and companies across the business spectrum, holding back investment and spending. The onus remains on the UK Parliament to agree a way forward.

Credit rating agency Moody’s has now weighed in, saying Brexit uncertainty will continue to have “credit negative effects” on the UK.

It also welcomed the decision to avoid a no-deal Brexit tomorrow (which could have led to a prompt rating cut).

Brexit-weary politicians, and the public, might welcome a break from the constant crisis. But Alexandra Dumitru, economist at Rabobank, points out that another six-month delay has an economic cost.

“A delay until October is likely to notably hinder business investment, which already contracted four quarters in a row last year.

While a tight labour market and relatively high capacity utilisation should have incentivised firms to speed up their investments, the pipeline in both manufacturing and services is already seeing a downward trend and another delay is likely to stall this further.”

Andrew Gray, head of Brexit at PwC, makes a good point -- Brexit has stopped being an event, and become a prolonged period of uncertainty with no clear ending.

So some firms may press on with their Brexit contingency planning, rather than simply deleting, say, “29 March” and replacing it with “31 October”.

Gray explains:

For many businesses, the wheels are already in motion, and this extension will mean they need to decide whether to pause and keep options open, to roll back preparations, or reevaluate their options on a more strategic basis. It won’t always be as simple as changing the end date of plans already in place.

“Business strategy has been to keep options open for as long as possible however, it is difficult for them to do that for much longer, especially international investors for whom the UK is only one market of many.

“Any extra time to plan for Brexit is a gift. As Mr Tusk said, don’t waste it.”

European stock markets have also mostly dropped at the open, although French luxury stocks are having a better day.

In London, the FTSE 100 has dropped by 0.5%. with mining stocks among the fallers.

Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group points to concerns about global growth:

A dovish ECB, milder US core inflation and a growing number of Fed policymakers who now see policy moving in either direction have investors increasingly convinced that interest rate rises will be kept on hold.

On the one hand, global central banks sitting tight keeping a patient wait and see approach is a positive backdrop for stocks. However, on the other hand the global growth slowdown story is a complication and is weighing on sentiment. Both the ECB and the Fed identified slowing global growth as important risk factors. The central bank observations come following the third downgrade in global growth by the IMF in just six months.

However, shares in LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton have jumped 3% after it beat profit forecasts, showing that there’s still demand for luxury goods.

The pound is stubbornly refusing to welcome Britain’s latest Brexit extension.

Sterling is unchanged at $1.309 against the US dollar, and down slightly against the euro at €1.159, after the EU kicked the can down the road until the end of October.

Dean Turner, UK Economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, says the possibility of a general election will keep pressure on the pound.

He told clients:

• “We would avoid taking positions as uncertainty should return with a potential general election.”
• “Given the current state of the polls which show the two leading parties neck-and-neck and other parties gaining, the outcome of any of the ballots ahead is highly uncertain. Positioning for one outcome or another is fraught with risk, in our view.”

Asian stock markets are a shallow sea of red in late trading.

China has born the brunt of the selloff, with the CSI 300 index closing down 2.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.8%, with Australia’s S&P/ASX is off 0.4%.

Associated Press say last night’s Federal Reserve minutes have dampened the mood:

In the minutes, several Fed officials also said that they may feel differently [about interest rate moves], depending on the data that surfaces.

Weaker growth and lower inflation expectations could prompt the Fed to cut rates, while stronger growth and rising inflation expectations could warrant a rate hike.

An indication of flexibility caused Asian markets to open in a “slightly soft mood,” said Selena Ling, chief economist at OCBC Bank.

“The FOMC minutes suggested that rates could head in either direction from here, but members generally favour being patient for the remainder of the year,” she added in an interview.