Market wrap: Trump’s travel ban leads to a bloodbath

Thursday saw another horrific trading session on exchanges around the world. Continuing worries about how badly the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus is likely to hurt the global economy were compounded by US president Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will ban entry to all visitors from certain European countries for 30 days. The FTSE 100 index of London’s biggest stocks sank by more than 10% during the day, its sharpest drop in more than three decades. No company in the index posting a rise. The FTSE 250 and FTSE 350 also suffered roughly double-digit drops. The property sector posted a 9% drop over the day. Intu Properties was the most notable property-based faller in the broad FTSE All-Share index. Following annual results that centred on a £2bn loss and plummeting portfolio valuation, the shopping centre owner dropped by a quarter to 4.25p per share. Savills, which posted a rise in revenue in its 2019 accounts, including a record year for its investment management business, dropped by 11% to 882p per share. To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette