(RTTNews) - German stocks were deep in the red on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump banned travel from most of Europe to the United States for 30 days, intensifying investor fears about the economic fallout from the coronavirus.
Italy shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a desperate bid to halt the fast-spreading virus that has killed 827 in the country in just over two weeks.
Elsewhere in Germany, some 56 percent of German companies are suffering negative effects from the coronavirus epidemic, Munich's Ifo institute said today.
The benchmark DAX was down as much as 697 points, or 6.66 percent, at 9,739 after closing 0.4 percent lower the previous day.
Banks Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank lost 8-9 percent. In the auto sector, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen were down 7-8 percent.
Fraport AG shares slumped 10 percent. The owner and operator of Germany's Frankfurt Airport said that FRA'S passenger traffic for February declined 4.0 percent to around 4.4 million passengers. The company noted that the Coronavirus outbreak continues to impact passenger and freight volumes.
Shares of K+S AG were down 7 percent after the potash and salt miner said it sees weak EBITDA in fiscal 2020.
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