London Stock Market Sinks in Early Deals

London stocks sank Friday in early morning deals, extending the previous day's heavy selloff on poor global economic data, while Frankfurt and Paris were shut for public holidays.

The British capital's FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies lost 2.3 percent to stand at 5,763.04 points, compared with the closing level on Thursday.

"Stocks are softer once more, though most of Europe is on holiday so the focus is on London until New York opens," noted Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.

He added that equities had "turned broadly weaker yesterday as investors reacted to some stinky data from Europe and the US".

Markets had plunged on Thursday after economic growth data confirmed fears of COVID-19's bruising impact on the world economy.