London pre-open: Stocks to slump amind coronavirus fears
London stocks were set to slump on Monday amid growing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
The FTSE 100 was called to open 89 points lower at 7,496.
Some Asian markets were closed due to the Lunar New Year, but those that were open fell sharply as the number of people infected by the virus rose to more than 2,700 and the death toll grew to 80.
Danske Bank said: "With a bout 5 million residents leaving the city of Wuhan (where the virus originates) before the government shutdown of the city on Thursday, the job of containing the epidemic seems considerable. The fact that the virus is infectious even during its incubation period (of 1-14 days) complicates it even further.
"This was not the case with SARS, which killed more than 800 people back in 2003. Japan's Nikkei index is down 1.8% this morning and S&P futures opened down 1%. US crude futures plummeted more than 3% and hit a three-and-a-half month low."
On the data front, BBA mortgage approvals for December are due at 0930 GMT.
In UK corporate news, Halma announced the acquisition of US synthetic bone graft products maker NovaBone and Australia-based FireMate, which provides cloud-based fire protection maintenance software to fire contractors.
Elsewhere, TI Fluid Systems said results for the year to the end of December were set to be in line with the expectations outlined in its first-half results in August.
The group expects to report revenue of about €3.4bn. At constant currency, the revenue performance is expected to exceed global light vehicle production in excess of 2%, it said.