European stock indices took a sharp tumble inmorning trading on Monday, falling by as much as 10 per cent in crisis-hitItaly, as the coronavirus outbreak that has paralysed certain regions triggersfears of economic recession, dpa reported.
Italy is so far the worst-hit country in theEurope, with around 7,375 confirmed cases and 366 deaths, according to theCivil Protection Agency.
The Borsa Italiana's key FTSE MIB index wastrading down by 9.69 per cent at 18,783.48 points shortly after 10 am (0900GMT), after recovering some of the losses that pushed the plunge into doublefigures.
In Germany, where health authorities havereported over 1,100 cases of infection, the DAX index of 30 blue-chip companiesfell by 6.68 per cent by that time to 10,763.11 points.
London's key FTSE 100 index lost more than 8per cent in early trading on Monday, before recovering some of its losses tosit as 6,077.16 points, down 6.07 per cent.
The Paris stock exchange's CAC 40 index of bluechip shares tumbled 7.27 per cent by around 10 am, to 4,772.69.
As of 8 am on Monday, France had recorded 1,126coronavirus cases and 19 deaths.
The main index on the Vienna stock exchangedropped by as much as 8 per cent in the first hour of trading.
The Warsaw Stock Exchange followed in thefootsteps of major markets, with its large-cap index WIG20 down by nearly 7 percent at one point. The index hovered at around 1,650 points, levels last seenin April 2009, before recovering slightly in late morning trade.
Markets in the Nordic region plunged into thered on Monday in opening trading.
In Oslo, the main index fell 12 per cent at theopening, its largest fall since 1987, and by mid-morning was down almost 7 percent.
The Stockholm bourse general index OMX30 wasdown 5 per cent, with falls for banking shares, among others.
The general index for the Copenhagen bourse,OMX Copenhagen 20 and the Helsinki OMXH25 were also in negative territory.