U.K. stocks fell slightly on Thursday as investors continued to fret about contagion of the coronavirus and its effect on the global economy, especially as millions of Chinese travel domestically and abroad during the week-long Lunar New Year holidays.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 11 points, or 0.15 percent, at 7,560 after hitting as low as 7,533.34 earlier in the session.
Miners paced the decliners, with Antofagasta down 2.5 percent and Glencore losing 1.4 percent.
Anglo American declined 1.1 percent. The company said that its fourth-quarter copper equivalent production increased 4 percent led by the continued successful ramp-up at Minas-Rio in Brazil.
Energy stocks such as BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow Oil held steady despite oil prices falling to their lowest in seven weeks on concerns that the virus outbreak may dent fuel demand.
Infrastructure company John Laing Group lost 2.3 percent. The company announced that Chief Executive Officer Olivier Brousse has tendered his resignation in order to take up a senior position at Veolia Group.
Daily Mail And General shed 0.9 percent. The media company said that its first-quarter Group revenue declined 4 percent from last year, while underlying revenue increased 1 percent, in line with expectations.
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