BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - German stocks were moving lower on Friday after Chinese industrial profits recorded the steepest drop in a decade, raising fresh concerns about the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. has now surpassed China and Italy with at least 82,100 reported coronavirus cases, but several analysts and health officials warned it's still the beginning.
The number of cases in Italy also exceeded 80,000 while Spain extended its lockdown to at least April 12.
There are now more than half a million cases of coronavirus reported in 202 countries and territories around the world.
China and the United States should 'unite to fight' the deadly coronavirus pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a call with U.S. President Donald Trump today.
The benchmark DAX was down 155 points, or 1.55 percent, at 9,845 after rising 1.3 percent on Thursday.
Banks Commerzbank and Deutsch Bank fell 2-3 percent after EU leaders failed to agree on Thursday on the scale and scope of their economic response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX