European stocks plunged on Monday as investors reacted skittishly to rising cases of Covid-19 around the world, fueled by the highly-transmissible delta variant.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down 2.3%, with banks, energy and travel shares leading the losses. Carnival was the worst performer in the travel sector, sliding 8.3%.
A surge in Covid-19 cases across the continent caused by the highly transmissible delta variant continues to weigh, with several major European countries forced to reimplement social restrictions, while the U.K. lifted most remaining restrictions on Monday despite reporting a high number of daily cases.
Meanwhile, investors reacted to the news that OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, reached a deal on Sunday to phase out 5.8 million barrels per day of oil production cuts by September 2022. Coordinated increases in oil supply from the group will start in August, OPEC said in a statement.
The development comes after Brent has surged more than 40% so far in 2021, with demand for crude rising as the global economy recovers from the pandemic.
Reference: CNBC
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