The STOXX 600 with total losses of 2.6% in November

European stock markets fell on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that inflation may not be temporary and that worries about the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine’s new’s Micron mutation continue to weigh heavily.

On the board, the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.9% to 462.96 points. The index was found to lose 1.6% at the low of the day, slipping to a seven-week low.

Overall, the STOXX 600 lost 2.6% in November, after rising 4.6% the previous month.

Speaking to the Senate Banking Committee today, Powell said the Fed would use all the tools at its disposal to tackle inflation and possibly consider accelerating the decline in bond markets to launch interest rate hikes sooner.

Powell’s remarks bring the European Central Bank back into the spotlight, especially as inflation climbed to a new record level in the Eurozone in November.

Consumer prices rose to 4.9% in November, by far the highest level in 25 years, from 4.1% last month and 4.5% as analysts had expected.

In the individual boards, the German DAX lost 1.2% at 15,100.13 points, the French CAC 40 fell 0.8% to 6,721.16 points, while the British FTSE 100 fell 0.7% to 7,059.45 points.

In the region, the Italian FTSE MIB lost 0.9%, while the Spanish IBEX 35 fell 1.8%.

The travel and leisure industry remains at the center of the pressure today, dipping 2.8% as countries ban flights to prevent further spread of the Omicron mutation. On a monthly basis, the industry fell 20.6%, knowing the worst losses since March 2020.

Statements by Moderna CEO Stefan Bancel that the vaccines already on the market will be much less effective in tackling the new variant of the coronavirus have sparked a new wave of concern in international stock markets. Speaking to the Financial Times, Bancell warned that it would take months before pharmaceutical companies could develop new vaccines for specific scale variants.