The FTSE 100 Index has lost more than 10% of its value (Picture: Getty)

The FTSE 100 Index has suffered its biggest one-day fall since 1987 after plummeting 10.9% to 5237.48 as coronavirus fears gripped the market.

London’s stock market lost more than 633 points this afternoon – the biggest fall since 1987 – a loss of more than £150 billion.

World markets dived at the opening of trading after the World Health Organisation declared coronavirus a global pandemic. Donald Trump’s shock ban on European travellers also had a huge impact.

Earlier, economists warned that if the FTSE fell another 1.5%, the index will reach lows not seen since the height of the European debt crisis in 2012, but it has continued to plummet.


The FTSE 100 Index plummeted as coronavirus fears gripped the market

Traders work during the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (Picture: Getty)

All of Europe’s main stock markets plunged on Thursday’s opening as did Asian shares with indexes also sinking on Wall Street overnight as fears over coronavirus heightened.



At the same time, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dived 4.9%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 6.6% and South Korea’s Kospi dipped 4.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 3.8%, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 1.3% and Thailand’s benchmark plunged 8%.

Jingyi Pan, an analyst at IG in Singapore, said: ‘Even though we do have substantial support coming through from governments and central banks alike, the dispersion of the virus so far continues to mark the risks of dragging the global economy into recession.’

It comes as the UK is on the brink of moving into the next stage of the response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the shift to the delay phase – which could see restrictions imposed in an effort to delay the spread of the disease – came following a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee chaired by Boris Johnson.

The Prime Minister is due to give a speech in Downing Street today after two more deaths were announced in British hospitals and the number of people who had tested positive for coronavirus reached almost 600.

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