Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

European Stock Index Futures Slump as Coronavirus Worries Deepen


Mon 23 Mar 2020 | 01:15 PM
Ahmad El-Assasy

European stock index futures dropped to nearly eight-year lows on Monday after many countries extended measures to curb the spread of the virus epidemic, with Italy also banning domestic travel as the number of deaths in the country peaked at 5,400.

Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 were off 4.1 percent at 0700 GMT, after attempting recovery on Friday as global policymakers declared a further stimulus wave to soften the pandemic economic blow.

Sentiment waned again on Monday as the relentless spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, forced entire countries to self-isolate and brought economic activity to a grinding halt.

German DAX futures FDXc1 fell 3.9% after two straight days of gains, while FTSE 100 futures FFIc1 and French futures FCEc1 were down 4.1% and 4.6%, respectively.

Facing an economic maelstrom that could be more painful than the 2008 financial crisis, European leaders are being urged to deliver a robust and coordinated fiscal response to shield companies and households from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

So far, however, EU and national authorities’ proposals in response to the disease have lacked the scale and synchronization of the €200bn spending program co-ordinated by Brussels and EU member states after the 2008 crisis, which was equal to 1.5 percent of the bloc’s gross domestic product.