BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks fell sharply on Thursday as cases of the mysterious new coronavirus in mainland China now outnumbered the infections that China saw during the entire SARS outbreak of 2002 and 2003.
Meanwhile, after the U.S. Federal Reserve stood pat on interest rates, investors now look forward to the Bank of England's rate decision and the release of the U.S. Commerce Department's preliminary reading on fourth quarter GDP for directional cues.
The benchmark DAX was down 160 points, or 1.2 percent, at 13,186 after closing 0.2 percent higher the previous day.
Lender Deutsche Bank edged up slightly despite posting its fourth annual loss in five years.
In economic releases, Germany's unemployment rate remained unchanged in December, the labor force survey from Destatis showed.
The jobless rate held steady at a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent in December. In the same period last year, the unemployment rate was 3.3 percent.
On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate rose marginally to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent a month ago.
Nearly 1.40 million people were unemployed in December, which was an increase of 78,000 people compared with the same month a year earlier.
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