British finance minister Rishi Sunak offered fresh help to employers hammered by the coronavirus shutdown on Friday in the form of a gradual phase-in of contributions by them to the government's hugely expensive wage subsidy scheme.

Britain cannot run its COVID-19 jobs protection scheme indefinitely and needs to start tapering it down as people slowly return to work, environment minister George Eustice said on Friday.

The coronavirus pandemic has emptied offices and shuttered shops but filled warehouses and highlighted demand for work-from-home spaces, leaving investors wondering if they should flee real estate or double down on their bets.

The coronavirus lockdown will ease next week for most of Britain's population, Boris Johnson announced on Thursday, as a row persisted over the prime minister's closest adviser taking a long-distance journey during lockdown.

This year will be the worst for many world stock markets in nearly a decade at least, although a majority of equity strategists polled by Reuters say top indexes will not revisit lows struck this March following an explosive rally since then.