Paris (AFP)

The Paris Bourse still suffered significant losses (-1.48%) Thursday at midday, investors worried about the repercussions of the coronavirus epidemic in China, whose balance sheet continues to get worse and which could lead the WHO to declare a state of emergency.

At 1:37 p.m. (12:37 p.m. GMT), the CAC 40 index lost 88.1 points to 5,866.78 points, in a trading volume of 1.4 billion euros. The day before, it had finished up 0.49%.

The Parisian rating opened sharply lower and remained in the red thereafter.

Wall Street was also preparing to open down. The futures contract on the Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell by 0.75%, that of the broad S&P 500 index also by 0.75% and that of the Nasdaq, with strong technological coloring, by 0.62%.

"The heavy losses in Asia have encouraged (European investors) to sell," said David Madden, an analyst at CMC Markets, in a note. "The coronavirus has spread, as has the fear surrounding the situation."

The toll of the viral pneumonia epidemic increased to 170 dead Thursday in China after an unprecedented jump in the daily number of deaths. The number of infected patients has risen to around 7,700 in mainland China (excluding Hong Kong).

The World Health Organization (WHO) is scheduled to hold a meeting today to determine whether the epidemic "constitutes a public health emergency of international concern".

As for central banks, on the eve of Brexit, the Bank of England once again opted to maintain its key interest rate at 0.75%, despite slashed growth forecasts for 2020.

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) also left rates unchanged on Wednesday, but chairman Jerome Powell expressed concern about the consequences of the epidemic on the global economy.

As for indicators, the unemployment rate in the euro zone reached its lowest level in December 2008 since May 2008, at 7.4%, according to the European Statistics Office Eurostat.

Investors have yet to read the inflation figures for January in Germany and the first estimate of GDP for the fourth quarter and 2019 in the United States.

- The CAC 40 sees red -

The entire CAC 40 was down, oil stocks and luxury goods being the most affected by concerns over the coronavirus.

TechnipFMC was down 5.92% to 14.55 euros, Vallourec lost 4.01% to 2.32 euros, CGG fell 2.82% to 2.62 euros and Total 2.37% to 45.09 euros.

LVMH sold 1.93% to 399.75 euros, Kering 1.67% to 558.50 euros and Hermès 1.22% to 681.60 euros.

Saint-Gobain fell 1.89% to 34.72 euros. The group obtained the agreement of the shareholders of Continental Building Products and the American competition authorities to finalize on February 3 the acquisition of this manufacturer of plasterboard for 1.4 billion dollars.

Renault fell 1.12% to 35.74 euros. The cumulative global sales in volume of the three members of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi automobile alliance totaled approximately 10.16 million units last year, a decline of 5.6% over one year, according to a calculation of l 'AFP from data released Thursday.

Fleury-Michon sank 4.33% to 28.70 euros, ballasted by the forecast of a net loss of between 25 and 30 million euros for the 2019 financial year, a poor performance attributed in particular to the surge pork courses.

© 2020 AFP