BRITISH stocks fell last Friday after four straight sessions of gains, as dealers locked in profits amid nagging worries over the coronavirus, and investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown slid following a discounted share sale by its largest investor.

The FTSE 100 declined 0.5 per cent, with losses inflicted by heavyweight oil stocks and miners as well as Hargreaves Lansdown, which fell 6.1 per cent to a near two-year low.

The FTSE 250 lost 0.3 per cent.

The China coronavirus has killed more than 800 people so far, including a doctor who was among the first to sound the alarm over the outbreak.

Markets surged in recent sessions after sharp losses last week. Beijing made firm moves to shore up its economy and cut tariffs on some US imports, while upbeat economic data from the United States also supported risk sentiment.

Suggestions that a drug had been developed to combat the virus also partly helped prop up markets last week, though the World Health Organisation later dismissed the reports of a vaccine.

Still, the FTSE 100 enjoyed its best week in seven weeks, while the midcaps recorded their biggest gain in six weeks.

Burberry fell as much as 4.7 per cent after it said the coronavirus outbreak was hurting luxury demand in key markets in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

UAE-based NMC Health, whose shares have more than halved in value since the company came under criticism from shortseller Muddy Waters late last year, slumped another 22 per cent to its lowest level since April 2015.

"This stock has been very volatile and we have seen big swings on no news," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

Outperforming the main index were holiday company Tui, which rose 1.5 per cent after agreeing to sell its Hapag-Lloyd Cruises unit, and telecoms firm Vodafone which gained 1.3 per cent after Jefferies upgraded the stock.

(c) 2020 City A.M., source Newspaper