* Energy sector at lowest since 1997, marks record drop
* STOXX 600 marks worst day since global financial crisis
* Italy worst hit among regional indexes
* Norwegian stocks mark worse day since 1989
(Updates to close)
By Ambar Warrick and Sruthi Shankar
March 9 (Reuters) - European shares ended at an eight-month
low on Monday, sinking into bear market territory after a crash
in oil prices deepened concerns that a global recession could
follow the coronavirus outbreak.
The oil and gas subindex .SXEP bore the brunt of losses,
plunging nearly 17% after oil prices lost a third of their value
on worries over a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
O/R
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX closed down 7.4%,
marking its worst day since the 2008-09 financial crisis. The
drop called for a flip into a more negative "bear" environment,
implying a more than 20% drop for the index from recent peaks.
European firms have now lost nearly $3 trillion in value
since the rapid spread of the coronavirus sparked a worldwide
selloff in February, as the outbreak seemed likely to disrupt
economic activity across the globe.
"The shock to oil compounds what the coronavirus is doing to
the global economy," said Andrea Cicione, head of strategy at TS
Lombard in London.
"In the short term, whoever feels the pain from the shock to
prices - they act immediately, they cut their spending, cut
their investment, and the winners, they react a lot more
gradually."
Trading on Wall Street was halted after steep losses in
early trade. .N
Norwegian stocks .OSEAX exposed to crude oil plummeted
9.4%, their worst day in more than 30 years, while London's
commodity-heavy FTSE 100 .FTSE shed 7.7%.
Oil majors BP BP.L and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L both
lost almost 20%, while Norway's Panoro Energy PENO.OL
plummeted 39%.
Tullow Oil TLW.L wallowed at the bottom of the STOXX 600
after a nearly 32% loss.
All European sub-sectors were deep in the red, with
growth-sensitive miners .SXPP , automakers .SXAP and banks
.SX7P falling around 10%.
Bank stocks were pressured by yields on 10-year U.S.
Treasuries US10YT=RR , the benchmark for global borrowing
costs, dropping to a record low, and German 10-year bond yields
DE10YT=RR fell further into negative territory. US/
GVD/EUR
Only four stocks were trading positive on the STOXX 600.
Dutch midstream oil and chemical firm Vopak VOPA.AS rose 3.2%.
Italy's blue-chip index .FTMIB shed 11.2%, underperforming
its regional peers for the day after the government ordered a
virtual lockdown across much of its wealthy north in a drastic
attempt to try to contain Europe's worst outbreak of the virus.
Budget airline Ryanair RYA.I ended 1.9% lower after it
said it would cut further flights to and from Italy because of
to the outbreak. Markets now expect the European Central Bank to trim
interest rates at its policy meeting on Thursday, following
rate cuts by central banks in the United States, Canada and
Australia last week to soften the blow of the outbreak.