Europe open: Stocks dip as South Korean coronavirus cases rise
Stocks were lower across the board at the end of the week, following an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, even as the latest economic data underscored the disruptions to the global economy resulting from the coronavirus.
Overnight, South Korea reported 52 more confirmed cases for a total of 208 and the Chinese province of Hubei revised the number of new cases for 20 February higher by 220 to 631 to reflect an outbreak in one of its prisons.
The latter led some observers to highlight the concerns around the reliability of Chinese data.
"A rise in new cases of the coronavirus in China, as well as South Korea has prompted further weakness in Asia markets overnight, even as some Chinese factories restart operations, after their extended shutdowns," said CMC Markets UK's Michael Hewson.
As of 1000 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.37% lower to 428.57, alongside a dip of 0.19% on the German Dax to 13,637.44, while Milan's FTSE Mibtel was shedding 0.62% to 24,926.57.
Shares of Sopra Steria topped gains on the Stoxx 600 after the information technology consultancy posted a 8.3% increase in full-year consolidated revenues to reach €4,434.0m, alongside a 32.5% jump in free cash flow to €229.3m.
Stock in Belgian telecommunications outfit Proximus was at the other end on the back of a fourth quarter net loss of €24m, as a voluntary redundancy programme weighed on its bottom line.
In the year earlier period, Proximus had clocked in with a €131m profit.
Shares in Moneysupermarket were also lower, as analysts at Berenberg reiterated their 'sell' stance.
There was some unexpectely good news to be had on the economic front as IHS Markit's factory and services sector Purchasing managers' Indices revealed that the euro area economy was expanding at its fastest clip in six months in February.
IHS Markit's composite PMI for those two sectors rose from a print of 51.3 for January to 51.6 in February (consensus: 51.0).
Nonetheless, the survey compiler's chief business economist, Chris Williamson, cautioned: "However, the outlook remains highly uncertain, notably in respect to the potential for further disruptions to supply chains, travel, tourism and demand arising from the coronavirus outbreak. In particular, the widespread delivery delays seen in
February bode ill for production in March unless new deliveries can be secured."
A gauge for supplier deliveries in the UK told a similar story, revealing the biggest monthly slowdown since at least 1992.
To take note of, European Central Bank chief economist, Philip Lane, was to deliver a speech in the US at 1600 GMT.