BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks were moving lower on Friday after China's National Health Commission reported a total of 75,465 confirmed cases and 2,236 deaths on the mainland by the end of Thursday.
The government reported 1,109 new confirmed cases of the disease during the same period, sharply up from 349 cases the previous day, reversing three days of decline.
China's commerce ministry said January and February exports and imports will be hit by the epidemic that has severely disrupted the world's second-largest economy.
Meanwhile, the day's economic reports proved to be a mixed bag. France's manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.7 in February from 51.1, missing expectation of 50.7 percent. The services PMI rose to 52.6 from 51.0.
The benchmark CAC 40 dropped 34 points, or 0.56 percent, to 6,028 after declining 0.8 percent the previous day.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX