European Shares Fall on Fears of Closing And Mining Stocks Decline

European shares got off to a lukewarm start to the week as investors worried they might resort to shutdowns again to contain COVID-19, with miners the biggest losers in the wake of the metals price crash after China promised to phase out coal at the COP26 climate summit.

The Stoxx 600 index settled under the weight of a 1 percent drop in mining shares as iron ore and metal prices collapsed.

Observers of the UN climate talks were alarmed on Saturday when representatives of the United States and the European Union met with their Chinese and Indian counterparts to discuss the agreement to phase out coal.

Shares of Glencore, Rio Tinto, and Anglo-American mining companies listed in Britain fell between 0.9 and 1.3 percent.

Adding to the state of caution, Austria became the first European country to impose a new closure on the millions who have not been vaccinated, with Covid infection rates reaching record levels.

Shares of Philips, which decided to recall respirators to use a potentially dangerous substance in some of its components, fell 8.5 percent after it announced that it was in talks with the US authorities following a new inspection of one of its facilities.

The shares of Airbus rose 2.6 percent after winning orders of billions of dollars from direct investment company Indigo Partners’ airlines for 255 single-aisle A321neo passenger planes.