BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks were sharply lower on Thursday after preliminary figures showed that China now has more cases of the coronavirus that it had of SARS.
With the death toll hitting 170 - representing a 38 percent increase in deaths in the past 24 hours, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for an Emergency Committee meeting today to determine whether the coronavirus constitutes a public health emergency.
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 CAC 40 was down 76 points, or 1.28 percent, at 5,878 after gaining half a percent in the previous session.
Sanofi shares fell 1.2 percent. The company said that Olipudase alfa showed positive results in two clinical trials in the treatment of acid sphingomyelinase deficiency in adult and pediatric patients.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX