The most important things you need to know in markets today

1. The US stock market has plunged into a correction, defined as a 10% drop from its most recent high. On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 1,000 points in a sell-off that accelerated near the end of the trading session.

2. Like US markets before them, Chinese stocks have been hammered on Friday, falling heavily to fresh multi-month lows. And, like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500, they’ve also experienced a technical correction, defined as a decline of 10% or more from an indexes recent peak. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed the morning session down 4.1%.

3. The US government entered a temporary shut down on again on Friday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill. Senate leaders have agreed to a sweeping budget deal, but Sen. Rand Paul has held up a vote in the chamber. It also remains unclear whether the bill has enough votes to pass the House, as members of both parties have expressed concerns about it.

4. Brexit Secretary David Davis has accused the European Union of failing to act in "good faith" after plans showed the bloc was ready to sanction the UK. A leaked EU document showed that the union will have power to impose punitive measures including restricting access to the single market during the two-year Brexit transition period from March 2019. Davis criticised the plans, calling them "political" and "unwise."

5. Chipmaker Qualcomm said on Thursday its board had unanimously rejected Broadcom's revised $121 billion buyout offer. The board has determined that Broadcom's proposal "materially undervalues" Qualcomm and falls short of the firm regulatory commitment it would demand given the significant downside risk of a failed transaction, the company said.

6. The Bank of England left interest rates unchanged at 0.5% at the first meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in 2018, it was announced on Thursday. While policy was widely expected to remain unchanged, the bank made clear that it is ready for rate hikes in 2018, saying that policy could be "tightened somewhat earlier and by a somewhat greater extent over the forecast period" if the economy continues to grow as forecast.

7. U.S. oil prices fell for a sixth day on Friday after Iran announced plans to boost production and U.S. crude output hit record highs, adding to concerns about a sharp rise in global supplies. The falls come amid a rout in global share markets as inflation fears grip investors.

8. Twitter reported its fourth quarter earnings before the market opened on February 8. It reported revenue of $731.6 million, above analyst estimates of $686.4 million. That gain in revenue was a surprise, and it's the company's first increase in revenue in a year.

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