Geoffrey Smith and Peter Nurse 

Investing.com – The European stock market selloff accelerated Friday morning as Covid-19-related lockdowns returned from Europe, setting up for another possible economic contraction in the coming winter.

Austria stated that it will reinstate a nationwide lockdown. It will also implement mandatory vaccinations starting February in an attempt to curb a growing infection rate. Jens Spahn from Germany, the health minister, has also not ruled out similar measures. There are fears Europe’s largest economy may be shutdown for the third year in succession.

At 5:08 AM ET (1008 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.3% lower, the in France fell 0.5% and the U.K.’s traded 0.3% lower. Oil-sensitive Russia fell 1.8%, while Spain and Spain were heavily tourist- and travel-dependent, respectively, fell 1.7%.

Non-Covid news was also less than stellar on Friday:   numbers for October showed prices rising another 3.8% on the month, taking the annual rate of factory gate inflation in Europe’s largest economy up to 18.4%. 

French data shows that the unemployment rate rose more than predicted to 8.1% in the third quarter. 

By contrast, the latest in the U.K. unexpectedly rose to -14 from -17 in October, while the country’s rebounded more strongly than expected in the same month, by 0.8%. With Covid cases falling, this further illustrated a strong economy capable of enduring a moderate increase in interest rate by Bank of England. 

This is corporate news Kingfisher The stock of (LON:), fell 4.4% following a report by the DIY company that sales had dropped year-on-year due to consumer spending being balanced after the pandemic. 

Airline and airport stocks tumbled, with IAG (LON:), the owner of British Airways and Iberia, losing 4.9% and EasyJet (LON:) stock falling 5.3%. Company that offers online payments Adyen HelloFresh meal-kit deliveryer HelloFresh was also in direct growth, with a 2.2% and 6.8% respective increase. Delivery Hero (DE,) rose 3.6% and Just Eat Takeaway was up 4.6%.

After Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to have overcame internal divisions, the U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a vote on Friday to approve the Democratic Party’s $2 Trillion spending bill. Wall Street expects to close the week in a tranquil mood, with broad confidence in U.S. economic prospects only partially dimmed by uncertainty. 

Oil markets futures moved lower as India, China, and the U.S. plotted a coordinated release from strategic petroleum reserves. 

WTI dropped 1.0% to $77.62/barrel, and fell 1.2% at $80.30.  were 0.3% higher at $1,866.10 per ounce.