European Stocks Slump on Rising Coronavirus Fears

(Bloomberg) —

European equities tumbled the most since October on Monday as investors fled risk assets amid rising concerns about the economic impact of the spreading coronavirus.

The Index fell as much as 2.6%, led by autos, miners and travel sectors. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE lost 3.6%. The Stoxx 600 Travel and Leisure Index dropped the most since June 2016, with Air France-KLM declining as much as 9.5%. Almirall SA lost as much as 9.2% after predicting a drop in earnings for 2020.

Italy’s retreated as much as 3.8% after Europe’s biggest surge of the coronavirus prompted the government to impose a lockdown on an area of 50,000 people near Milan, and authorities canceled the remaining days of the Venice Carnival (NYSE:), while universities closed.

Money managers are selling stocks and looking for havens after South Korea saw a surge in cases to 763 and the concern in Italy intensified. European equities surged to a fresh record high last week, which is adding to investor anxiety about possibly stretched positioning and valuations.

“Markets are in a risk-off mode amid concerns about the global spread of coronavirus, with a growing number of infections outside of China,” said Ulrich Urbahn, head of multi-asset strategy and research at Joh Berenberg Gossler & Co., which recently cut its exposure to commodities and favors quality European stocks. “Given the strong performance and elevated positioning in equities, the risks are clearly skewed to the downside.”

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.