(Reuters) - European shares fell for the second straight session on Monday, as fears about the economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic intensified with several nations extending near-total lockdowns to curtail the spread of the flu-like disease.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (STOXX) was down 0.8% at 0714 GMT, with energy (SXEP), industrials (SXNP) and travel and leisure (SXTP) stocks leading declines.
The banking sector (SX7P) tumbled another 2.5%, bringing its monthly losses to more than 28%, with UniCredit (MI:CRDI), ING (AS:INGA) and ABN Amro (AS:ABNd) among the first set of lenders to comply with the ECB's appeal to freeze dividends in a bid to shore up credit.
In fresh signs of the business impact from the outbreak, Swiss engineering group ABB (S:ABBN) fell 5.7% after issuing a profit warning and saying all of its businesses would suffer in the first quarter.