Source: Sharecast
That news broke as the number of reported cases climbed past 9,950, which was more than those officially reported during the 2003 SARS epidemic, although some analysts were also pointing to the mercifully much lower fatality rate thus far in this outbreak.
The FTSE 100 was down 1.3% at 7,286.01 while the FTSE 250 gave back 0.70% to end the session at 21,143.49.
Sentiment took a turn for the worse after the chief medical officer for England said that two people from the same family had tested positive for coronavirus in the UK. They are being treated at a specialist centre in Newcastle after being taken there overnight.
CMC Markets UK's David Madden said: "Dealers are dumping stocks for fear the health crisis will curtain economic activity in China, and to a lesser extent the rest of the world – should the situation keep spreading.
"[...] It would be appear that traders are rushing for the exit before markets in mainland China re-open on Monday – the authorities might decide to extend their holiday period though."
Meanwhile, sterling was near its highs of the day, having received a boost on Thursday after the Bank of England decided to stand pat on interest rates. The pound was up 0.74% against the US dollar at 1.3194.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Despite Friday being Brexit day, the UK leaving the EU around three years, seven months and one week on from the original referendum, sterling was in a very good mood.
"Still riding high from the fact the Bank of England didn’t cut rates on Thursday, while perhaps expressing some relief that Britain can move onto the more important trade negotiations part of Brexit."
In equity markets, Hargreaves Lansdown was in the red as it posted a rise in interim pre-tax profit but a decline in net new business.
Senior managed to recover from the heavy losses sustained early in the session after the engineering group, which supplies parts for Boeing's grounded 737 MAX, said full-year aerospace revenue would be lower as production of the troubled aircraft remained halted.
To the upside, shares of Aston Martin rallied after it said that a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll will inject £182m into the company in return for a 16.7% stake. In addition, the luxury car maker will launch a £318m rights issue at £4 per share after the release of its 2019 preliminary results.
Britvic gained ground as the drinks maker said it was confident of meeting market expectations for the year after a “robust” first quarter, during which revenue rose 4.9%.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,286.01 -1.30%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,143.49 -0.70%
techMARK (TASX) 4,127.76 -0.89%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,286.00p 1.58%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,950.80p 1.45%
SSE (SSE) 1,510.00p 0.50%
Pearson (PSON) 568.40p 0.46%
Persimmon (PSN) 3,053.00p 0.43%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,685.50p 0.41%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,385.00p 0.36%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,292.00p 0.27%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 5,240.00p 0.27%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,351.00p 0.24%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,725.00p -8.22%
Evraz (EVR) 350.90p -4.29%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 822.20p -3.84%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,455.00p -3.80%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,223.50p -3.70%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,758.00p -3.65%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 562.00p -3.27%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,630.00p -3.17%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,953.00p -3.08%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,546.00p -2.92%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 498.80p 23.86%
Avast (AVST) 425.00p 7.59%
Britvic (BVIC) 925.50p 5.65%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 118.50p 4.87%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 149.22p 4.38%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 147.10p 2.80%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,742.00p 2.53%
Greencore Group (GNC) 245.60p 2.29%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 142.20p 2.16%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 208.00p 2.01%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Future (FUTR) 1,280.00p -15.90%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 164.25p -6.14%
Premier Oil (PMO) 100.35p -4.84%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 437.80p -4.83%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 794.00p -3.66%
G4S (GFS) 195.30p -3.51%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 614.00p -3.46%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 750.50p -3.35%
Hammerson (HMSO) 233.40p -3.11%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 662.80p -3.04%