European stocks sink as coronavirus sparks investor panic

Europe's main equity markets plunged at the open on Monday, mirroring losses elsewhere on investor panic over the deadlycoronavirus.

In initial trades, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies sank 1.6 per cent to 7,468.72 points compared with the close on Friday.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index also lost 1.6 percent to 13,359.03 points and the Paris CAC 40 dived 1.7 per cent to 5,923.36.

The outbreak of thecoronavirushas led China to lock down the epicentre of the disease, Wuhan,a city of 11 million people, while also imposing tight travel restrictions on a number of other cities including Beijing.