British shares slip after virus cases rise

London stocks dropped on Friday as investors took measures to reduce their exposure to perceived risky assets as the coronavirus continued to spread, while a buyout offer powered mid-cap real estate investment firm Daejan to a life-high. The FTSE 100 slipped 0.5% and the FTSE 250 shed 0.3% in early deals after China reported an uptick in new cases of the virus, which has killed more than 2,200 people.

Losses on the main index were led by stocks more exposed to commodity prices, including oil majors and miners. Domestic banks such as Lloyds were also lower. Daejan Holdings soared 55.7% to match the 8050 pence per share offer price and was by far the biggest gainer among British stocks.