FILE PHOTO: Customers wearing face masks queue for food outside a store, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Beijing, China February 12, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - The likely slowdown in China’s economy due to the coronavirus outbreak is likely to shave 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points off both euro zone and UK growth this year, credit rating agency S&P Global estimated on Wednesday.

Should the coronavirus peak in March, as is currently assumed, the shock to the European economy is likely to be felt mostly in the first quarter of the year, S&P said, although sectors like tourism could take more time to recover.

“A large share of economic activity hindered by the outbreak of the virus, especially goods production, would just be postponed rather than canceled altogether,” it added.

“If a catch-up effect materializes, the economic outlook for 2021 could even be slightly higher than our current baseline forecast of 1.2%.”