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Global stock markets tumbled sharply as fears over the economic fallout from the Chinese coronavirus outbreak intensified.
The U.S. dollar index, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc rose while the offshore yuan tumbled to a 2020 low as growing fears about the spread of a coronavirus from China pushed investors into safer assets.
Oil slipped as concerns that a virus in China may spread further than first feared, curbing travel and oil demand.
Gold climbed as mounting concerns over the economic fallout of the coronavirus outbreak sent investors scurrying for safe havens.
In corporate news, travel related stocks IAG, InterContinental, easyJet and Carnivalwere all dented by worries about the impact of the coronavirus.
Luxury fashion brand Burberry, which has big exposure to China, was also under pressure, dented further by a rating downgrade at MainFirst.
Miners - which are heavily dependent on demand from China - were also down, with Anglo American and Rio Tinto both in the red.
Elsewhere, Halma was on the front foot after saying it had made two acquisitions in the US and Australia for a combined £83.4m. It bought NovaBone, a designer and manufacturer of US FDA-approved synthetic bone graft products, based in Florida, for £74m. It also purchased a 70% stake in FireMate, a Brisbane-based company which provides cloud-based fire protection maintenance software to fire contractors.
At the close
FTSE 100 7,412 (-2.29%)
FTSE 250 21,303 (-2.11%)
DAX 13,204 (-2.74%)
At 16:52
Dow Jones 28,586 (-1.39%)
S&P 500 3,250 (-1.38%)
NASDAQ 9,143 (-1.84%)
UK 10-YR YIELD 0.51
GBP/USD 1.305
GBP/EUR 1.184
GBP/ZAR 19.078
Gold $1,581 +0.65%
Brent $58.83 (-3.02%)
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