BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks fell on Tuesday as commodity-linked shares were hit by concerns about surging coronavirus cases in China.
The Ukraine crisis revived worries about growth, with European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Pablo Hernandez de Cos saying that Russia's invasion of Ukraine will have consequences on economic activity in the euro zone.
The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 106 points, or 1.5 percent, to 7,087 after gaining half a percent on Monday.
Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore lost 3-4 percent as base metal prices plunged.
Oil & gas firm BP Plc tumbled 3 percent and Royal Dutch Shell declined 2.2 percent as oil extended declines to fall below $100 a barrel.
Tobacco form Imperial Brands fell about 1 percent after issuing an update in view of the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
Automotive firm Inchcape declined 2.6 percent after saying it has started a process to transition its business in Russia.
In economic releases, the U.K. labor market continued to recover in three months to January with a quarterly rise in the employment rate and a fall in the unemployment rate, the Office for National Statistics said.
The ILO jobless rate dropped 0.2 percentage points on the quarter to 3.9 percent, which was also below the expected rate of 4.0 percent.
At the same time, the employment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 75.6 percent.
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