European Stock Futures Sharply Lower; Omicron Fears Resurface By Investing.com – Investing.com

European Stock Futures Sharply Lower; Omicron Fears Resurface By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are expected to open sharply lower Tuesday amid fresh concerns about the effectiveness of the current vaccines in combating the newly discovered omicron Covid variant.

At 2 AM ET (0700 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 1.8% lower, in France dropped 1.7% and the contract in the U.K. fell 1.2%.

Global stock markets had bounced Monday after Friday’s rout as investors reassessed the likely damage caused by the omicron variant, helped by South African health experts indicating that the symptoms have been mild so far.

However, sentiment changed abruptly early Tuesday after Moderna (NASDAQ:) chief Stephane Bancel suggested in a Financial Times article that the existing vaccines would struggle to cope with the omicron variant, predicting a ‘material drop’ in their effectiveness.

He also warned that it would take months before the drugmakers can manufacture the new variant-specific injections in sufficient quantities to be effective.

Moderna, along with Pfizer (NYSE:) and AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:), have supplied most of the developed world with the vaccines to combat the Covid-19 virus.

The omicron variant has now spread to more than a dozen countries, prompting the