European Shares Drop 2% on Omicron’s Fears

European shares fell amid a global sell-off as investors worried about the prospects of restrictions affecting the global economy with the increase in cases of the new mutated Omicron from the Coronavirus.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 2.3 percent to its lowest level in more than two weeks.

The shares of the travel, entertainment, and mining sectors led to the declines, dropping by three percent, and shares of all sub-sectors fell.

The Netherlands began a general closure on Sunday and the prospects of announcing new restrictions ahead of Christmas and the beginning of the new year appeared on the horizon in a number of European countries with the rapid spread of Omicron.

Shares of Novo Nordisk fell 14.3 percent after the Danish drugmaker said it would not be able to meet the demand for its new obesity drug due to supply problems in the United States.

BNP Paribas shares rose 0.9 percent after the French bank announced its agreement to sell its US unit to Canadian financial group BMO for about $16.3 billion.