Coronavirus panic wipes more than £200bn off London shares this week

The FTSE 100 has dropped to its lowest level since July 2016, with Bank of England boss Mark Carney warning Britain could be set for an economic growth downgrade as the coronavirus crisis causes chaos in global markets. 

The index opened the day 3.2 per cent down, more than 200 points worse off than yesterday, and continued dropping continued dropping through the morning and was trading down 4 per cent at 9.45am. 

With stocks in freefall, the latest figures mean that more than £200 billion has been wiped off London shares this week. 

A growing list of major companies are issuing profit warnings and say factory shutdowns in China are disrupting supply chains. 
 

Among them are British Airways and easyJet, who have admitted the crisis is having a damaging effect on profits. 

Rolls-Royce also admits the coronavirus could affect profits, with bosses 'paranoid' about its impact.  

School and business closures are also set to ravage the economy, as are potential travel bans and cancellations of holidays and flights.  

Bank of England Chief Mr Carney believes that these virus protection measures could devastate growth in the UK. 

He said: 'There's less tourism - as you can see on our streets here in the UK. That's lower activity as well.

'We would expect world growth would be lower than it otherwise would be, and that has a knock-on effect on the UK.'  



MailOnline