European stocks tumble on doubts about vaccine efficacy against Omicron

European stocks fell more than 1% on Tuesday after vaccine-maker Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA)’s head cast doubts over the efficacy of COVID-19 shots against the Omicron coronavirus variant.

By 0815 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 dropped 1.3% to hit its lowest levels in nearly seven weeks. Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC 40 and UK’s FTSE 100 fell between 1.1% and 1.5% in early trading.

Global stocks tanked after Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel told the Financial Times that existing COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the newly detected variant as they have been previously.

Oil stocks fell 1.6%, tracking a drop in crude prices, while bank stocks sank 1.6% to their lowest in more than two months. [O/R]

Travel stocks shed 1.1%, with British airline easyJet (LON:EZJ) trading nearly flat after reporting softer demand in the first quarter following the emergence of the Omicron variant.

The pandemic-sensitive sectors slumped last week when the Omicron variant was first detected in South Africa, pushing the benchmark STOXX 600 to its worst single-day performance in more than a year on Friday.

Lack of fresh updates on the variant proved to be a relief on Monday, but European stocks are on course to end November with losses of nearly 3%.

Telecom Italia (MI:TLIT) rose 1.1% after Italy’s Democratic Party pledged to actively involve the coalition government in deciding the future of the firm.