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London - Global stock markets mostly tumbled on Monday as investors took fright at a swine flu outbreak which has likely killed more than 100 people in Mexico.
Strong gains for heavyweight pharmaceutical shares could not prevent leading indices across Europe and Asia sliding into the red, as the value of airlines' stocks plunged on worries that governments could impose travel restrictions.
"Swine flu is ripping through the markets creating uncertainty in its wake," said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at financial spread-betting firm ETX Capital in London.
"US markets are sure to be heavily affected by this crisis when they open later today.",/p>
Swine flu has been blamed for dozens of deaths in Mexico over the past month and on Sunday the United States declared a health emergency amid signs the disease was spreading.
Mexico has upped the probable death toll from the epidemic to 103.
WHO officials warned on Sunday that the new strain, apparently born when human and avian flu viruses infected pigs and became mixed, could mutate further.
In Brussels, the European Commission called for an urgent meeting of EU health ministers to discuss the threat posed by a potential epidemic, a spokesperson said.
In early European trade, London's FTSE 100 index shed 1.13%, Frankfurt slid 1.92%, Paris lost 1.64% and Madrid dived 2.18%.
"News over the weekend of a deadly flu outbreak is rocking financial markets," said CMC Markets dealer Matt Buckland.
"It's also worth bearing in mind that after last week's gains many would have been looking to start locking in profits but clearly this (flu) news has the potential to become a rather serious development."
Chinese shares closed down 1.77% on Monday, with food producers leading the decline in response to the swine flu outbreak, dealers said.
Seoul shed 1.05%, but Tokyo and Sydney managed to end slightly higher.
Wall Street, expected to mirror heavy losses in Europe when it reopens, had revved higher on Friday as sentiment was boosted by US carmaker Ford's narrower-than-expected loss and data suggesting the ailing US economy may have found a bottom, dealers said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.50% on the final trading day of last week, the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.55% and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index rallied 1.68%.
- AFP