European markets continued to nurse heavy losses this afternoon as disruptions to business from the spreading coronavirus epidemic worsened, stoking fears of a prolonged economic slowdown.
London's FTSE index plunged 3.6% by the close of business, while the Paris CAC sank 4.1% and the Frankfurt DAX tumbled 3.4%.
Dublin's ISEQ index has also seen deep losses, falling by 2.8% by the close of business.
Shares in AIB tumbled 4.6% after it published its results for 2019 earlier and announced more job cuts.
Meanwhile, Wall Street stocks tumbled in opening trading today, shrugging off strong US jobs data as investors fixate on the economic toll from the coronavirus.
By early afternoon, the Dow Jones had dropped 1.9%, while the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.4% and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite index sank 2.7%.
Earlier in Asian trade, Tokyo's Nikkei index lost 2.7% while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed 2.3% lower in line with a global sell-off fuelled as the coronavirus crisis overshadows government and central bank moves to limit the economic impact.
