The Financial Services Forum, which represents eight of the US’s largest banks, says its member institutions, including JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup, have suspended stock repurchases.

The decision to temporarily halt share buybacks comes as the spread of Covid-19, the infectious disease that has spread to more than 100 countries and infected nearly 160,000 people, has dealt a punishing blow to major industries across the globe and threatens to throw the US and global economies into recession, as businesses and consumers curtail activity in order to limit the transmission of the deadly virus.