By Leigh Thomas
PARIS (Reuters) - France, Italy and Spain are introducing curbs on stock market trading on Tuesday, banning short-selling to shield some of Europe's biggest companies from a sell-off triggered by the coronavirus.
France is banning short-selling on 92 stocks, the financial markets authority said as it tries to calm market turmoil. Belgium also took a similar step.
On Monday, stock market regulators in the two European countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, Italy and Spain, imposed bans on short-selling.
France's Autorite des Marches Financiers said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation on the markets in relation with other regulators.
Earlier, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said it was important to keep financial markets open in order for companies to be correctly valued and said that other things, such as banning short-selling, could be done before closing markets.