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| - The pound slipped Thursday after UK finance minister Sajid Javid sensationally quit Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government, dealers said. In stocks trading, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gave up more than one percent, as other major European markets posted narrower losses on resurfacing fears over the global economic impact of China's deadly coronavirus outbreak. Javid's resignation came just two weeks after Brexit and a month before he had been due to deliver his first annual budget on behalf of Johnson's Conservative administration. Johnson appointed senior Treasury official Rishi Sunak to succeed Javid as chancellor of the exchequer. "Volatility has been injected into the markets on the back of the news that Sajid Javid, the chancellor, has resigned," CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden told AFP. "The news caught traders by surprise. Sterling has the biggest reaction to the news -- it initially sold-off, but it since recovered all the lost ground and is now back above the pre-announcement level." British media said Javid resigned after refusing to carry out Johnson's demand that the chancellor sack his entire team of aides. "Moving forward, pound-dollar could continue to see near-term strength, especially if Johnson and Sunak hint at expanding fiscal stimulus to address the UK's lackluster growth," suggested GAIN Capital global head of market research Matt Weller. Global stock markets lost ground -- London was 1.3 percent in the red two hours from the close -- after a dramatic spike in the number of coronavirus deaths and cases in mainland China, with traders concerned about the economic impact. "Stock markets have moved into retreat... on coronavirus headlines," noted IG analyst Chris Beauchamp. Chinese authorities have changed the way they count infections from coronavirus -- officially named COVID-19 -- and the latest reports propelled the nationwide death toll to 1,355 and the infection count to nearly 60,000. The new virus numbers dampened the positive cue from Wall Street overnight, where the Dow was off 0.4 percent minutes after the opening bell after three main indexes all set fresh records. China has been praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) for its transparent handling of the outbreak. There is, however, still scepticism among the global public, with suggestions that Beijing may be concealing the scale of the problem the way it did during the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic. Tokyo stocks slid 0.1 percent, Hong Kong lost 0.3 percent and Shanghai 0.7 percent. The falls were deeper in Europe, where London fell also on disappointing corporate news from energy company Centrica and banking giant Barclays. Centrica, owner of domestic electricity and gas provider British Gas, saw its shares tank 17 percent to 70.28 pence after posting a pre-tax annual loss and sliding revenues. Sentiment was rocked also as Barclays said chief executive Jes Staley was facing a UK regulatory probe over his historic links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Barclays' share price shed 2.4 percent to stand at 174.98 pence despite the British bank's board throwing its support fully behind Staley. Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3043 from $1.2960 at 2200 GMT Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.26 pence from 83.90 pence Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0857 from $1.0874 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.83 from 110.09 London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.3 percent at 7,437.13 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.2 percent at 13,726.29 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,073.05 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,835.12 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 23,827.73 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.3 percent at 27,730.00 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 2,906.07 (close) New York - Dow: DOWN 0.57 percent at 29,383.10 Brent Crude: UP 0.6 percent at $56.14 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $51.51 per barrel burs-rfj/bcp/cdw/bmm
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