European Shares Close Lower Over Omicron Fears

European shares closed lower on Tuesday’s trading, impacted by resurfacing fears of the new coronavirus variant; Omicron.

The negative news has made headlines since early morning trading Tuesday, with some 20 manufacturing centers closed in China’s Zhigang state due to the spread of the virus.

Health authorities in the UK have also announced that there are 200,000 cases per day. New South Wales, Australia’s largest state, announced its infection rate to reach its highest level in two months.

The headlines have begun to spread negative sentiment since the early hours of morning trading in Asia, leaving European stock markets trapped between the negative factors that emerged in the Asian period and other negative developments that emerged in early US trading session, leading to a negative close in most European stock indices.

The European Stock Exchange’s Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 469 points after a loss of about four points, or 0.9%. The London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 fell to 7,218 points after ceding about 170 points, or 0.2%, to the close of the last session.

Stock markets are expected to stay wary and skittish as there is tension between Omicron and a busy economic calendar for central banks, while shares stand perplexed between two earnings seasons.

Tech stocks lost 2.1%, tracking U.S peers, while the healthcare index slipped 1.2%. Vifor extended gains from Monday after agreeing to be bought by Australian biopharma giant CSL for USD 11.7 billion.

Also capping losses were miners which tracked copper and iron ore prices higher, while rising bond yields and tighter monetary policy appearing on the horizon lifted banks.

UniCredit firmed 4.6% after HSBC raised the Italian lender’s target price, while ArcelorMittal advanced 8.1% after the world’s largest steelmaker announced plans to repurchase some of its debt.

Rentokil plunged 12.3% on its USD 6.7 billion plan to buy U.S. rival Terminix, while AutoStore Holdings dropped 13.4% after it lost a patent infringement lawsuit filed against British online supermarket group Ocado Group.