News of a potentially more transmittable Covid variant has caused a big slump in stocks and crude oil this morning. Just when you thought surely it can’t get any worse with inflation surging and new lockdowns and restrictions being introduced in parts of Europe, the last thing investors needed right now was this. Although there has only been very limited number of cases of the B.1.1.529 variant, it has been described as "the worst” variant we've seen so far” by experts. There is concern it has the potential to evade immunity and the UK has already put several southern African countries on its travel red list. Fears that more countries will introduce fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions has hurt crude oil, sending it down over $5 lower. The major European indices were down by about 3.5% shortly after the open, with travel and tourism stocks bearing the brunt of the sell-off. Safe haven gold and yen rallied. It is certainly feeling like a Black Friday already.
Source: ThinkMarkets and TradingView.com
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