Peter Nurse 

The European Stock Markets are likely to open lower on Tuesday due to fresh doubts about the efficacy of current vaccines against the recently discovered Omicron Covid variant.

The contract in Germany fell 1.8% at 2AM ET (0700 GMT) while the one in France declined 1.7%. Meanwhile, the U.K. contract dropped 1.2%.

Global stock markets had bounced Monday after Friday’s rout as investors reassessed the likely damage caused by the omicron variant, helped by South African health experts indicating that the symptoms have been mild so far.

But, the mood quickly changed on Tuesday morning. Moderna (NASDAQ:) chief Stephane Bancel suggested in a Financial Times article that the existing vaccines would struggle to cope with the omicron variant, predicting a ‘material drop’ in their effectiveness.

He said that drugmakers would need to manufacture enough injections of new variants for them to make effective.

Moderna is also available Pfizer AstraZeneca and (NYSE:) have provided vaccines for the Covid-19 virus to most countries.

This omicron variant is now in more than 12 countries. New travel restrictions have been put into place. On Monday, the World Health Organization stated that this modification could lead to very serious infection surges. However, the UN body said it was not clear how severe the variant actually is.

A surprise rise in China’s factory activity in November was a good sign for investors. It also came after a spike in power rationing and raw material prices.

The country’s came in at 50.1 in November, above the previous month’s 49.2 figure, while the was at 52.3, higher than the previous month’s 52.4 figure. 

Back in Europe, the main economic release will be the flash for November, which is expected to climb to an annual 4.5% from October’s 4.1%, while for November will also be of interest.

On Tuesday, corporate news will release earnings reports from EasyJet (LON/), Greencore(LON/), SAS (ST/) and Volvo Carss (ST/)

As omicron worries returned, crude prices fell. Traders worried about new lockdowns and their impact on global demand. 

Despite this, there are increasing expectations that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) will suspend plans to increase 400,000 barrels per day by January, when it meets later in week.

Futures were trading 3.4% lower at $67.57 per barrel by 2AM ET. They had climbed 2.6% Monday and fell 3.6% to $70.57 on Tuesday. The contract was up 1% in the preceding session, but it dropped 3.6% to $70.57.

Also, the price rose 0.6% at $1,795.35/oz and traded 0.3% higher to 1.1325