(Reuters) – European stocks fell more than 3% Friday after a report about a new, possibly vaccine-resistant variant of coronavirus fueled fears that the global economy would be hit again and drove investors away from riskier investments.

By 0819 GMT the pan-European index had fallen 3.3%, which is its lowest session for over a year. The UK was down 3.3%. The index fell by 3.4%, while 40 lost 4.3%.

Although little is known about the South African, Botswana, and Hong Kong variants, scientists believe it may have unusual mutations that can evade immune reactions or render it more transmissible.

As a result of a surge in COVID-19 case cases, the European stock markets are already under pressure.

Travel & leisure stocks plunged 6.5% after Britain announced a temporary ban on flights from South Africa and several neighbouring countries from 1200 GMT on Friday.

British Airways’ shares in IAG (LON 🙂 was down over 12% while easyJet and Carnival (NYSE 🙂 were up 12% and 15%, respectively.

Oil & gas producers dropped 5.8%, while miners tumbled 4.4% as oil and metal prices lost ground as reports of the new virus variant fuelled economic slowdown worries. [O/R] [MET/L]

The banking index fell 4.4% due to falls in bond yields. However, some stocks such as Delivery Hero or Just Eat Takeaway.com, which are stay-at-home stocks, rose between 3% – 5%.

New York saw a drop of 2%. Trading was likely to thinned due to the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving on Thursday, and shortened trading sessions on Friday.