European shares see worst fall in a year on virus woesReutersEuropean stocks posted their worst session in more than year on Friday, as reports of a newly identified and possibly vaccine-resistant SARS-CoV-2 variant stoked fears of a fresh hit to global economy and drove investors out of riskier assets. Cyclical-heavy European stock markets have already been under stress this week as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases prompted new restrictions in several countries. Oil and gas producers dropped 4.3 percent, while miners tumbled 3.5 percent as oil and metal prices lost ground as reports of the new virus variant fueled economic slowdown worries. The virus scare prompted eurozone money markets to scale back bets of a rate hike from the European Central Bank next year. Odds of a 10 basis point rate hike in December next year almost halved from a full 100 percent earlier this week.

Source: Taipei Times November 28, 2021 00:59 UTC