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| - European stock markets sank at the start of trade on Monday, with the heaviest falls in Italy after it confirmed the nation's fourth death from the deadly coronavirus outbreak. In early morning deals, Milan's FTSE MIB benchmark shares index tumbled 4.3 percent to 23,720.56 points, shortly after the eurozone member confirmed its fourth fatality from the growing global COVID-19 epidemic. Elsewhere in Europe, London's FTSE 100 sank 2.6 percent to 7,213.41, Frankfurt's DAX 30 slumped 3.3 percent to 13,136.53 and the Paris CAC 40 dived 3.4 percent to 5,822.96 compared with Friday's closing levels. In Asia, Seoul led a sharp drop across the region's equity markets after South Korea announced a surge in virus infections. "It would appear the coronavirus has finally caught up with the markets," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam told AFP. "The deceleration in new Chinese cases gave investors a reason to buy the dip -- but the spike outside of the country in the last few days supercedes that. "Investors, in their determination not to miss a dip buying opportunity, have been caught premature. This could sting." Traders had been broadly optimistic that the virus -- which has killed nearly 2,600 and infected 80,000 -- was being contained outside China but a spurt of infections and deaths in other countries including South Korea, Italy and Iran has fanned fears of a wider outbreak. With the outbreak showing little sign of easing, investors are increasingly concerned it could have a much longer-term impact on the world economy. burs-rfj/rl
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