London midday: Stocks extend losses as coronavirus fears grip markets
London stocks had fallen further into the red by midday on Monday, with miners and travel shares pacing the decline as worries over the spread of the coronavirus gripped markets.
The FTSE 100 was down 2.2% at 7,421.71.
Sentiment took a hit as Chinese authorities warned that the virus was becoming increasingly contagious and its spread was likely to accelerate. This came as the number of people infected rose to more than 2,700 and the death toll grew to 80.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Last Friday, the European markets were rebounding on the hopes that the coronavirus was being contained, that China was putting more cities on lockdown, and that the WHO had stopped short of announcing a global emergency.
"Now those fears have come back with a vengeance. A weekend full of increasingly alarming headlines about jumping death tolls and known cases rising into the thousands - one expert has claimed there could be as many as 100,000 affected by the virus, a figure that dwarfs the official number - has sent the global markets reeling."
While safe havens such as gold rallied, oil prices tanked. West Texas Intermediate fell 3% to $52.62 a barrel and Brent crude was down 2.9% at $58.98.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said oil was being dented by fears of slower Chinese GDP growth and a hit to the global tourism industry - "two of the key drivers of crude demand".
With the focus firmly on coronavirus, the release of UK mortgage approvals came and went pretty much unnoticed. Figures from UK Finance showed that mortgage approvals hit a four-and-a-half year high in December.
In equity markets, travel and mining stocks were the worst hit amid worries about the coronavirus, with IAG, Carnival, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Anglo American all sharply lower. Hotel chain InterContinental was the worst performer on the top-flight index.
Luxury fashion brand Burberry, which has big exposure to China, was also under the cosh, dented further by a rating downgrade at MainFirst.
Speciality chemicals company Johnson Matthey was knocked lower by a downgrade at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Rolls-Royce was weaker as Citi cuts its price target on the stock.
Elsewhere, shares of Amigo Holdings tumbled after the guarantor loans provider said it had launched a strategic review and formal sale process after its largest shareholder, the Richmond Group, said it would willingly sell its 60.66% holding in the company.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX)7,421.71-2.17%
FTSE 250 (MCX)21,403.01-1.66%
techMARK (TASX)4,195.37-1.78%
FTSE 100 - Risers
NMC Health (NMC)1,397.00p3.67%
Polymetal International (POLY)1,272.00p0.47%
National Grid (NG.)1,014.80p0.04%
ITV (ITV)140.80p-0.14%
Halma (HLMA)2,154.00p-0.37%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR)8,848.00p-0.45%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH)2,768.00p-0.72%
DCC (DCC)6,306.00p-0.85%
Pearson (PSON)578.60p-0.89%
Persimmon (PSN)3,018.00p-1.02%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)4,519.00p-5.97%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG)589.40p-5.09%
Carnival (CCL)3,254.00p-5.08%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.)626.20p-4.83%
Prudential (PRU)1,349.50p-4.80%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT)563.50p-4.65%
easyJet (EZJ)1,415.00p-4.55%
Rio Tinto (RIO)4,246.50p-4.33%
BHP Group (BHP)1,707.40p-4.02%
Burberry Group (BRBY)2,015.00p-4.00%
FTSE 250 - Risers
PureTech Health (PRTC)309.00p1.98%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK)136.00p1.64%
Finablr (FIN)96.00p1.05%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ)2,040.00p0.99%
Computacenter (CCC)1,809.00p0.95%
Fresnillo (FRES)641.80p0.91%
Hochschild Mining (HOC)170.70p0.53%
Primary Health Properties (PHP)159.40p0.38%
Galliford Try (GFRD)131.98p0.37%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX)170.50p0.29%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS)222.00p-7.31%
Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI)243.00p-5.45%
Premier Oil (PMO)106.85p-5.15%
Ferrexpo (FXPO)140.90p-4.89%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT)1,596.00p-4.89%
Spirent Communications (SPT)230.00p-4.76%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC)340.60p-4.75%
Future (FUTR)1,462.00p-4.57%
Tullow Oil (TLW)49.63p-4.45%
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG)1,014.00p-4.34%