Markets hit by quarantine, China fears and stimulus worries

European stock markets are all solidly in the red as lunchtime approaches.

The FTSE 100 is currently down 1.8%, with travel shares worst hit on a bad day for stocks. IAG is currently down 5.5%, with easyJet shedding 6.4%.

France’s CAC index is down nearly 1.9%, with the UK’s new quarantine rules casting a pall over the bourses.

Investors are worried that the Covid-19 crisis is entering a new phase, with cases rising in some European countries this week.

Alastair George, head strategist at Edison Investment Research, says: “What we have got is a significant amount of uncertainty over the evolution of coronavirus pandemic, which is maintaining a risk premium for the transportation, leisure and hospitality sectors.”