London stock slide, European mood turns Grim on Profit Warnings.

European shares headed lower on Thursday, as a slump in British stocks and profit warnings from several companies soured market sentiment even after central banks this week tried to ease the blow of the coronavirus outbreak on global growth.  

The main European equity benchmark reversed early gains to trade down 0.8%.  London's FTSE 100 fell 1.3%, with several companies including Evraz Plc  Rio Tinto , Persimmon and BHP  sliding as they traded ex-dividend. 

Among euro zone stocks, German auto supplier Continental slumped 10.5% after it posted a net loss of 1.2 billion euros ($1.34 billion) in 2019, as it suffered from a global downturn in demand for passenger cars.

The broader automakers index .SXAP dropped 2.2%, while miners .SXPP fell 2.8%, leading declines among the STOXX 600 sub-sectors.

Airbus shares fell 2.8% after Bloomberg reported the company was considering a cut in production of the A330neo jet after its biggest customer deferred deliveries due to a slump in travel demand.

In a sign of deep damage to the travel industry, British regional airline Flybe collapsed, making the struggling carrier the industry’s first big casualty of the outbreak.

• Reuters