European shares Drop on Lockdown Fears And Oil Decline

European stocks fell today, erasing a large part of its weekly gains, after France imposed new general isolation measures to curb the spread of the Corona virus, in light of indications of slowing vaccination in some countries.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.6%, tracing a negative session on Wall Street yesterday after a surge in US bond yields.

The French CAC 40 index fell 0.7 percent after Paris imposed new lockdown measures for four weeks, starting Friday, in 16 regions severely affected by the health crisis.

The oil and gas, banking and mining sectors led the declines as new lockdown measures dampened hopes for a speedy economic recovery.

Shares of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and Total fell between 1.8 and 2.9 percent after crude prices tumbled nearly 7 percent overnight due to fears that the new shutdown would hurt fuel demand.