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* FTSE 100 down 0.5%, FTSE 250 down 0.3%
* New coronavirus cases tick up
* Daejan outshines market on buyout offer
Feb 21 (Reuters) - 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.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard
Orr)
