RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The dollar opened on Thursday, February 27th, with a slight increase of 0.2 percent, reaching R$4.45. European stock markets, on the other hand, are down by up to two percent. Travel stocks are suffering the greatest impact, following a surge in cases of coronavirus outside China deepening fears of a pandemic that could affect global growth.
In London, the Financial Times index was down 1.71 percent to 6,922 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX index fell 2.11 percent to 12,505 points. In Paris, the CAC-40 index lost 1.93 percent, at 5,574 points. In Milan, the Ftse/Mib index was down 1.78 percent at 23,005 points. In Madrid, the Ibex-35 index was down 1.53 percent, at 9,174 points.
Increasing concerns, the day was marked by alerts on blue-chip company profits. Standard Chartered fell 3.7 percent after the bank said a significant profit target will take longer to reach, as the epidemic is exacerbating obstacles in its major markets in China and Hong Kong.
Anheuser-Busch InBev plunged eight percent after the world’s largest brewer reduced its growth target for 2020, in part due to the outbreak.
“Uncertainties about the global macro slowdown by the coronavirus outbreak force us to a prudent allocation,” said Angelo Meda, Banor SIM’s stock director.
At 8:02 AM (Brasília time), the FTSEEurofirst 300 index dropped 2.05 percent to 1,545 points, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 2.2 percent to 396 points, its sixth day of decline in seven, heading for its sharpest weekly decline since May 2011.