Europe: Stocks drop at open

[LONDON] European stock markets dropped at the open on Wednesday as the region faces fresh coronavirus infection spikes and lockdowns.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index retreated almost 0.9 per cent to 14,535.48 points and the Paris CAC 40 also lost 0.9 per cent to stand at 5,893.33.

Outside the eurozone, London's FTSE 100 dropped 0.6 per cent to 6,658.54 points, but losses were less pronounced given Britain's rapid vaccination drive.

Investor fears are growing over another deadly wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, adding to concerns over a stimulus-fuelled inflation spike.

Europe's two biggest economies, Germany and France, as well as a number of other countries have been forced to reimpose new restrictions to battle the disease, at the same time as they struggle to get their vaccination programmes rolling properly.

"Risk appetite is less-than-ideal as governments roll out new restriction measures against the third wave of Covid contamination," said Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

The news "means delay in economic recovery for at least another month... as economies struggle... to reach the end of a long tunnel", she warned.

AFP