The lockdown in Austria throws the euro markets

European stock markets lost their initial gains and continue with a negative sign as the investment psychology was hit by the news of the new lockdown in Austria which rekindled concerns about the prospects for economic recovery in Europe.

THE Austria announced today that from Monday it will impose a total, national lockdown to stop the pandemic that is galloping again in the country. At the same time, the government makes it mandatory to vaccinate the population from 1 February. It thus becomes the first country in the European Union to take such measures to deal with the outbreak of Covid-19 cases.

Analysts do not rule out that Germany, the largest economy in the Eurozone, will adopt similar measures and there the situation seems to get out of control, with the Minister of Health emphasizing today that the latest wave of cases has plunged the country into a “situation emergency”.

In this climate, the pan-European STOXX 600 index recorded marginal losses of 0.04% at 487.52 points.

The German DAX lost 0.1% at 16,208.83 points, the French CAC-40 fell 0.2% to 7,129.45 points, while the British FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 7,234.63 points.

In the region, the Italian FTSE MIB fell 0.9%, while the Spanish IBEX-35 lost 1.1%.

The new restrictive measures in Europe, however, reinforce estimates that the European Central Bank will not rush to withdraw the stimulus measures it launched in the wake of the crisis, despite the rally of inflation in recent months.

The President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde reiterated today that high inflation will weaken by 2022, therefore the ECB should not tighten its policy as this could stifle the economic recovery.

In business developments, the French luxury goods group Hermes jumps 3.7% to a record high amid reports that it may be added to the Eurostoxx 50 index as part of its December review.