Omicron jitters, mixed cenbank decisions drag European shares lower

European shares slipped on Friday, as risk appetite took a hit on uncertainties about how the swiftly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant would impact growth in 2022 and mixed outcomes from some of the major central banks’ policy meetings.

The STOXX 600 dropped 0.4% as of 0814 GMT, erasing sharp gains from Thursday as the European Central Bank only slightly reined in monetary policy support, while the Bank of England hiked rates and the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled plans to tighten rates in 2022.

Asian stocks tested 13-month lows and Wall Street saw a mixed session overnight, with tech stocks ending sharply lower.

European tech stocks also fell 1.1%, but auto stocks led losses, followed by oil stocks tracking lower crude prices on concerns that surging Omicron cases could affect global fuel demand. [O/R]

Airbus gained 0.4%, after completing its third big win in 36 hours at the expense of rival Boeing (NYSE:BA) with a deal to supply 100 narrow-body jets to Air France-KLM subsidiaries, in the airline group’s largest purchase based on number of jets.

Italian diagnostics firm DiaSorin slumped 7.4%, after it forecast weaker 2022 sales as COVID-19 revenues plunged nearly 60%.