Britain's government faced questions over how closely people would abide by its new COVID-19 test and trace service 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.

The recovery from the coronavirus financial crash will take time for European stocks which are expected to end 2021 around 10% below this February's record high, a Reuters poll of about 30 fund managers, strategists and brokers showed.

British employers turned a bit less pessimistic about hiring and investment this month as the government moved to relax its coronavirus lockdown of much of the economy, according to a survey published by a recruiting industry body.

British property funds are set to remain frozen for months as the market is impossible to value due to the coronavirus crisis, and some may need to change structure to survive, industry sources say.