European stocks closed sharply lower Thursday as the rapid spread of the coronavirus weighed heavily on market sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 3.6% lower provisionally at 389.89 , officially entering correction territory as it was off more than 10% from its record high notched on Feb. 19 last year.

The spread of the coronavirus — which has now infected more than 81,000 people and killed over 2,700 — continues to rattle markets and policy makers around the world.

The European countries of Estonia and Denmark both reported their first confirmed cases of coronavirus Thursday morning, while the U.K. also reported two more cases. It comes as China's National Health Commission said there were 433 new confirmed cases in the country and 29 additional deaths as of Feb. 26.

Source : CNBC