The global spread of a deadly coronavirus is threatening to put a halt to any recovery in European dealmaking this year by grounding jet-setting investment bankers in the City of London.

Global stocks have been tumbling all week as new cases of Covid-19 are confirmed in the Middle East and Europe. The respiratory virus, which has infected more than 80,000 people and killed almost 2,800 around the world since emerging in China in late 2019, has yet to be called a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The spread shows no sign of letting up, with northern Italy now the epicentre of an outbreak in Europe.