Europe closes lower as virus woes persist
Equities on the major European stock market benchmarks ended the session in the red on Tuesday with news and predictions regarding COVID-19 and its Omicron variant dominating the headlines.
While French authorities previously predicted that stricter containment measures will not be needed to curb the spread of the virus, the number of daily cases in the country reached a seven-month high. Meanwhile, the investors remained worried over the prospects of the new strain rendering either vaccines or treatments less effective.
The DAX dropped 1.18% at the close with HelloFresh tumbling 5.4%, while the CAC 40 lost 0.81% at the same time. The French benchmark's worst performer was Danone with a 4.31% plummet. Concurrently, in London, the FTSE 100 declined by 0.44% as London Stock Exchange Group plunged 5.36%.
The euro dipped 0.07% versus the dollar at 5:32 pm CET, selling for 1.12730, while the pound surrendered 0.51% to the United States currency, to go for 1.32333 at the same time.