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| - Investor nerves over the spread of a deadly new virus from China hammered Asian equities and oil benchmarks on Thursday, as authorities moved to contain the disease, while losses for European stock markets were less sharp awaiting the outcome of an ECB interest-rates meeting. "Traders are cutting their exposure to stocks for fear the health crisis will spread," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK. China on Thursday locked down two major cities in a province at the centre of a deadly virus outbreak, banning planes and trains from leaving in an unprecedented move aimed at containing the disease that has spread to other countries. The respiratory virus has claimed 17 lives since emerging from a seafood and animal market in Wuhan, infected hundreds of other people nationwide and been detected as far away as the United States. Shanghai's stock market tumbled 2.8 percent in the final day of trading before a week-long market holiday for the Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions of people travel across China -- raising fears of the contagion spreading further. It was the biggest pre-Lunar New Year fall on record for the bourse. Hong Kong slightly pared losses to finish down 1.5 percent while Tokyo lost 1.0 percent. Approaching the half-way stage in Europe, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 30 dropped 0.3 percent. Wall Street finished flat Wednesday, with indices barely stirred by either strong local earnings reports or the rising death toll in the coronavirus outbreak. OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley said it was "quite understandable that some money would be taken off the table until the true extent of the coronavirus issue becomes obvious". The virus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed hundreds of people in 2002-2003. "China's importance in the overall global supply chain and the fact they are a huge export market for many countries... opens up a more unfavourable global outcome this time around," Stephen Innes, chief market strategist of AxiCorp, said in a client note. Oil prices were hit hard, shedding around 1.5 percent. "Given the importance of China for oil demand and having the outbreak falling on the cusp of peak domestic travel season, the timing is particularly damaging," Innes said. Focus Thursday was also on the European Central Bank, with markets looking for hints about the ECB's strategic review and an updated assessment of risks facing the eurozone economy. "The European Central Bank meeting on Thursday is likely to produce some clues about future monetary policy direction, but nothing concrete," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com. "The focus will be on the strategy review as it gets underway, which is buying new boss Christine Lagarde some breathing space." London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,557.21 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.3 percent at 13,476.45 Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 6,020.80 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,766.49 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0 percent at 23,795.44 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.5 percent at 27,909.12 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.8 percent at 2,976.53 (close) New York - DOW: FLAT at 29,186.27 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1094 from $1.1093 at 2200 GMT Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3123 from $1.3142 Euro/pound: UP at 84.53 pence from 84.41 pence Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.59 yen from 109.84 yen Brent Crude: DOWN 1.3 percent at $62.37 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.6 percent at $55.82 per barrel burs-bcp/rfj/jh
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