[LONDON] Europe's main equity markets extended their losses at the start of trade on Thursday as fears continued to mount over a potential second wave of coronavirus infections.

In initial deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index shed 1.44 per cent from Wednesday's close to 5,819.21 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index lost 1.4 per cent to 10,397.46 points and the Paris CAC 40 dropped 1.5 per cent to 4,279.26.

AFP