Stocks suffer steepest weekly fall since onset of pandemic

US stocks have suffered their heaviest weekly fall since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, after investors were spooked by a series of interest rate increases by big central banks and the threat of an ensuing economic slowdown.

The S&P 500 index ended the week 5.8 per cent lower, its worst weekly performance since March 2020. An 0.2 per cent uptick on Friday did little to offset damage done in earlier trading sessions.

The FTSE…