European Shares Advance After Selloff By Omicron

European shares surged on Monday after their worst selloff in more than a year as investors digested whether the Omicron variant would deter economic recoveries and monetary tightening plans by central banks.

The pan-European STOXX 600 closed up 0.7%, logging its best day in a month and recovering some of Friday’s 3.7% slump triggered by concerns around the newly discovered variant.

Travel and leisure stocks rose, with Wizz Air, Lufthansa, TUI Group and Ryanair and Carnival; all rising between 1% and 5.5% after double-digit falls on Friday on fears of renewed travel restrictions.

Financial stocks added 1.7%, while energy and basic material stocks were also among the biggest boosts as prices of the underlying commodities rose.

London’s FTSE 100 also jumped 0.9% with investors also betting the Bank of England may be forced to rethink monetary policy tightening next month.