European stocks drop to 4-month low as coronaviurs spreads in Italy

European stocks fell on Thursday, resuming losses after taking a breather yesterday, hitting a 4-month low, as the sell-off renewed amid escalated fears over the coronavirus outbreak in north of Italy and most parts of the world.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was lower by 2.5% at 11:10 GMT, to hit its lowest level since October, after it closed stable yesterday for the first time in five days, thanks to strong corporate results by major European automakers.

The index opened today's session lower, and hit its 4-month low, with most of the major European exchanges and sectors falling today.

The travel and leisure sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, as its stocks plunged more than 3.7%, on growing expectations for a drop in the sector's companies due flights and traveling restrictions.

Fears over the novel coronavirus continued to cast a shadow on global markets, after news about the virus spread beoynd China, in countries such as South Korea, Italy and Iran, with new cases emerging in Japan and Germany.

The Italian health authorities announced that coronavirus has infected 424 people so far, and its death toll rose to 12 victims.

A top US health official said that the coronavirus will likely cause a global pandemic, and the deputy director of the US Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters "it's not a question if virus will spread in the US any more, but rather more of a question of when this will happen."

This forced most international companies and banks to issue warnings about a drop in their business performance and profits during the first quarter of 2020.

S&P 500 futures fell 1.1% today, to dive to a 3-month low, after the index closed lower by 0.4% yesterday at Wall Street, and posted its fifth straight daily loss.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 2.5%, France's CAC 40 fell by 2.4%, the German DAX shed 2.6%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell by 2.2%.