European stocks fell on Thursday, to deepen losses for the fourth straight day, on profit-taking from all-time highs, and investors' risk-aversion, as concerns mounted about the spread of the Chinese coronavirus and the chances for it to become a global pandemic.
Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1% as of 10:55 GMT, after it closed lower by 0.1% yesterday, to post its third daily loss, on profit-taking from all-time highs hit of 429.94 points.
The index opened today's session lower, to head for the fourth straight daily loss, as most of the major European exchanges and sectors fell today.
The mining sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, dropping by more than 1.6%, on concerns about the Chinese economy (the world's largest consumer of metals.)
Investor fears mounted about the spread of the Chinese coronavirus and the chances for it to become a global pandemic, especially after it led to 17 fatalities, and nearly 600 people infected in China.
The World Health Organization has not declared the disease a global health emergency so far, and the Chinese authorities locked down Wuhan city, which has a population of 11 million people, as it is believed that the virus started in that city.
The outbreak comes ahead of the Lunar New Year Holidays in China, which starts next Saturday, as hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens are expected to travel indoors and outdoors during the holiday.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% today, after it closed flat yesterday at Wall Street, after hitting a record high of 3,337.77 points.
Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.1%, Germany's DAX lost 0.3%, and In London, the FTSE 100 index fell by 0.2%, while France's CAC 40 rose by 0.2%.