Paris (AFP)

The Paris Stock Exchange continued to capsize at midday on Monday (-3.55%) in the face of worrying developments in the health crisis linked to the new coronavirus which is gaining ground outside of China.

At 1:45 pm (12:45 GMT), the CAC 40 index plummeted by 214 points to 5,815.57 points, in a trading volume of 3.5 billion euros. As of Friday, the Paris index had closed down 0.54%.

The Parisian rating opened sharply lower and widened its losses throughout the day.

Wall Street was also moving towards opening up to negative territory. The futures contract on the Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell by 2.52%, that of the broad S&P 500 index by 2.38% and that of the highly technological Nasdaq by 2.61%.

The coronavirus has already killed nearly 2,600 people in mainland China and around 30 elsewhere in the world.

Economic players fear its impact on global growth.

While most cases of infection are still in China, the coronavirus epidemic has gained ground elsewhere in recent days. South Korea and Iran have the highest number of infections and deaths outside China, respectively.

In the Middle East and Central Asia, several countries have announced the first cases of contamination: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq.

"Fears on the coronavirus front have rocked European markets" when a fifth person died in Italy, observes David Madden, an analyst for CMC Markets.

In the third largest economy in the euro area, the closure of public places in 11 quarantined cities has "thrilled investors", "the health crisis becoming a major problem in Europe", he continues.

These concerns about the accelerating spread outside China "should continue to fuel caution," said Franklin Pichard, chief executive officer of Kiplink Finances.

- ArcelorMittal biggest drop in ACC -

The director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, warned on Sunday that the crisis "could jeopardize the global recovery", during a G20 ministerial meeting in Saudi Arabia.

In China, only about 30% of SMEs have resumed their activities, said Tian Yulong, a senior official in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, on Monday. And this while SMEs, all sectors combined, represent 60% of the Chinese economy.

In Germany, entrepreneurial morale stagnated in February, gaining just 0.1% in one month. The Ifo indicator, which gives a taste of economic activity, stood at 96.1 points in February while analysts expected a slight drop to 95.9 points.

All of the 40 largest valuations making up the Parisian CAC 40 index were tinged with scarlet. The sectors highly exposed to China - mining, automotive, tourism and luxury continued to loose the most.

On the front line, the action of the global steel giant ArcelorMittal plunged from 8.01% to 13.80 euros, followed closely by StMicroelectronics (-7.17% to 26.27 euros), Peugeot (-7.05 % at 17.79 euros) and Accor (-6.94% at 35.83 euros).

The biggest drop in the SBF 120, Air France-KLM tumbled 10.5% to 8.12 euros.

© 2020 AFP