Coronavirus is keeping its grip on investors

Global markets extended a nightmare run on Tuesday as coronavirus fears continued to grip investors across the world.

Britain’s top index closed almost 2% down at 7,017.88, a 138.95-point drop. It marks a further £35 billion wiped off the index, adding to the £62 billion lost on Monday.

It comes after the FTSE 100 racked up its worst day since 2015 on Monday, as Italy became the first country in Europe to announce a major outbreak of coronavirus.

Britain’s blue chip index was not the only loser on Tuesday.

Germany’s Dax index fell 1.9%, while the Paris-based index Cac lost 2% of its value. Italy’s MIB index, which collapsed on Monday with a 5.4% drop, fared better, down only 1.4%.

Markets opened positively on Tuesday, gaining a few points, but the optimism did not last and the markets soon turned back into the red.

When US markets opened, they repeated the same pattern, opening up around 0.3% before dropping back into negative territory. The S&P 500 lost 1.2%, while the Dow Jones was down 1.1% as UK markets closed.

The pound rose 0.6% against the dollar to 1.3005, while against the euro it was up 0.4% to 1.1962.

International oil standard Brent crude had a bad day as traders feared a slowdown would hit demand. It was down 1.1% to 55.56 dollars per barrel.

Biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were NMC Health, up 32p to 880.2p, and Bunzl, up 49p to 2,050p. The biggest fallers were Carnival, down 166p to 2,639p, and AB Food, which dropped 113p to 2,430p.