FTSE fall continues on back of pandemic fears
The UK’S leading index of companies has seen its sharpest weekly fall since the middle of the financial crisis as markets lost 3.2 per cent yesterday.
The bloodbath that has gripped markets for days continued, wiping more than £200 billion off shares on the FTSE 100 this week, as traders panicked over the spread of coronavirus. It included a major drop yesterday, with the index losing 215.79 points to 6,580.61 as the blue chip index posted its worst week since October 2008 – the depths of the financial crisis.
In terms of points lost, it is also the FTSE 100’s second worst week since the index was founded in 1984.
The fall means the index reached its lowest point since just after the June 2016 EU referendum.
Meanwhile, a dog in Hong Kong whose owner has contracted coronavirus has also tested positive for the infection. Government officials said the dog was found to test “weak positive” for the virus after being referred to them by the department of health on Wednesday.
The pet Pomeranian did not have any symptoms, but was tested by officials after its owner, reportedly a 60-year-old woman, was diagnosed and placed in an isolation ward.
The dog is now in quarantine pending further tests as health officials try to work out whether the dog really has the virus or if the infection, which was found in its nose and mouth, is instead the result of low levels of “environmental contamination”. Hong Kong’s department of health have now urged people affected with the Covid-19 to put their pets under quarantine for 14 days.