European Shares Rebound on Sell-off Driven by Omicron Fears

European shares rebounded on Monday amid their steepest selling in over a year as investors awaited signs of whether the new Omicron strain of the coronavirus will hamper economic recovery and central banks’ monetary tightening plans.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 1 percent by 0818 GMT, after falling 3.7 percent on Friday on concerns about the newly discovered strain.

All sectors traded higher, with travel companies leading the gainers. Shares of Airbus, Lufthansa, and Ryanair rose between 0.7 percent and 1.7 percent, after falling by their maximum extent on Friday, amid fears of new travel restrictions.

Oil shares also contributed to the rise of the benchmark index, with a 1.8 percent increase, in conjunction with the recovery of crude prices amid speculation that OPEC + may stop increasing production in reaction to the spread of Omicron.

The FTSE 100 index rose 1.1 percent by 0805 GMT after fears of the spread of the virus caused the blue-chip index to fall 3.6 percent on Friday.

And the value of the two oil giants, BP rose 3.1% and Royal Dutch Shell 2.5%, as crude oil prices jumped from their lowest levels in more than a year as investors searched for favorable deals and speculation that the OPEC+ group may stop increasing production temporarily.