European shares dropped on Thursday after gaining for two straight sessions, as coronavirus spread rapidly across the globe and fears of a deep global recession overshadowed optimism from a historic $2 trillion U.S. fiscal stimulus deal.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 2 percent at 0803 GMT, with German shares .GDAXI down 1.8 2 percent as a survey showed consumer morale in Europe’s biggest economy fell sharply to its lowest level since 2009.
Italian .FTMIB and Spanish .IBEX stock markets fell between 2.2% and 2.5% as the number of fatalities from COVID-19 in Italy topped 7,500, while those in Spain rose beyond 3,400 and exceeded the total death toll in China.
British electricals retailer Dixons Carphone tumbled 2% after warning it would not meet its forecast for 2019-20 profit and debt as the virus outbreak forced the closure of its stores in the UK, Ireland and Greece.
