SMI Tanks 4% As Stocks Tumble On Virus Fears

(RTTNews) - The Switzerland stock market suffered its worst single-session setback in several years on Friday, as worries about the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy triggered a massive sell-off.

The latest reports show the number of new coronavirus infections in China is slowing down, but the disease seems to be spreading more rapidly around the rest of the world.

The number of infections due to the virus has soared in Italy, France, Greece and Iran. A cruise ship has been stationed off the Californian coast to test passengers showing symptoms of the disease.

So far, more than 100,000 infections have been confirmed worldwide and more than 3,300 people have been killed by the virus.

The benchmark SMI tanked as much as 406.75 points, or 4.01%, as it settled at 9,736.82, a long way down from an all-time high of 11,270.00 it had touched on Februay 19, 2020.

On Thursday, the SMI ended the session with a loss of 107.82 points, or 1.05%, at 10,143.57, snapping a three-day winning streak.

The SMI's loss today is the biggest since the 8.67% loss it suffered on January 15, 2015. On that day, the index had plunged after the Swiss National Bank lifted the minimum exchange rate of the Swiss franc against the euro.

Earlier this year, the index lost 3.67% and 3.58%, on February 28 and February 24, respectively.

Selling was so widespread in Friday's session that all the components of the SMI index ended in red.

Sika and Alcon lost 6.5% and 6.28%, respectively. Roche Holding, Lonza Group, ABB, Nestle, Credit Suisse and Zurich Insurance Group ended lower by 4 to 5%.

Geberit declined nearly 4%. Adecco, Swiss Re, LafargeHolcim, Novartis, UBS Group, SGS, Swiss Life Holding and Givaudan lost 2.5 to 3.7%.

Among midcap stocks, AMS, Partners Group, Straumann Holding, Logitech, Sonova, Flughafen Zurich, BB Biotech, Lindt & Sp Ps, Ems Chemie Holding, OC Oerlikon Corp and Temenos Group lost 3 to 4.7%.

Stock markets across Europe ended sharply lower today. Among the major indices, the U.K.'s FTSE declined 3.62%, Germany's DAX shed 3.37% and France's CAC 40 lost 4.14%. The pan European Stoxx 600 plunged 3.67%.