Coronavirus: US stocks lose one per cent and Brits land back in UK

Wall Street has now fallen over one per cent as fears over the coronavirus outbreak continue to damage markets around the world.

The Nasdaq fell 1.1 per cent to 9,193.04, whilst the Dow Jones fell nearly 1.5 per cent to 28,441.34. The S&P 500 dropped 1.35 per cent as well.

Read more: Coronavirus UK: How will health authorities react and what steps can I take?

The slide came as the World Health Organization labelled the outbreak, which has now killed over 200 people, a global health emergency.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda Europe, said: “It’s clear there’s going to be an economic price as well as various businesses rightfully put safety ahead of profit.

“It’s just extremely difficult to quantify what that will be at this moment as we don’t know how long the coronavirus will last and how much worse it will get. Companies are seeing their share prices take a beating though as investors fear the worst and hope for better.”

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The FTSE 100 was also in the red today, down 1.2 per cent at 7,284.18. David Madden, markets analysts at CMC Markets, said:

“Dealers are dumping stocks for fear the health crisis will curtain economic activity in China, and to a lesser extent the rest of the world – should the situation keep spreading. The FTSE 100 fell to a seven week low, and it is not too far from the low of the week.

“It would be appear that traders are rushing for the exit before markets in mainland China re-open on Monday – the authorities might decide to extend their holiday period though.”  

Cases of coronavirus has now been identifies in 18 countries, with the UK confirming its first two cases this afternoon.

The Department of Health said that two people from the same people had tested positive for the virus.

Read more: What is the coronavirus and how dangerous is it?

The developments came as a plane carrying 87 Britons and 27 foreign nationals evacuated from Wuhan landed in the UK.

The flight landed at RAF base Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at around 1:30 this afternoon. Passengers will be kept in quarantine at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral for two weeks.