By
Tolu Ajiboye
December 13th, 2023
With the restrictions, the entire global market will slip to the downturn experienced in the first quarter and an early second quarter last year when the COVID-19 pandemic was just building its harsh momentum.
The European stock market is showing a fair growth push on Monday amidst the entire holiday season frenzy, and the persistent fears of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus pandemic. While the German DAX PERFORMANCE-INDEX (INDEXDB: DAX) is up 0.15% to 15,780.52, and the French CAC 40 (INDEXEURO: PX1) also recorded a slight bump of 0.058% to 7,090.67, the FTSE 100 Index (INDEXFTSE: UKX) deviated from the bullish course with a 0.017% 7,372.10.
Investors are still weighing the potential impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus which has now been shown to be less deadly when compared to the Delta variant. Despite this positive assurance, the Omicron variant spreads and mutates very quickly and has stirred a new wave of restrictions and lockdowns by several European governments.
The United Kingdom recorded as many as 100,000 Omicron-related cases in the past week, with France also recording related numbers. The gravity of the ongoing surge is beginning to weigh on several governments of which Portugal, France, and Germany have announced the reinstatement of post-Christmas restrictions.
As reported by the BBC, Germany, in particular, announced that from 28 December limits would return that restrict private gatherings to 10 people and nightclubs would close. Football matches from that date will also be played behind closed doors.
“Coronavirus doesn’t take a Christmas break,” Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said last week, adding that” we cannot – and must not – close our eyes to this next wave, which is beginning to loom over us.”
With the restrictions, the entire global market will slip to the downturn experienced in the first quarter and an early second quarter last year when the COVID-19 pandemic was just building its harsh momentum. Should the kinds of lockdowns experienced back then also be repeated at this time, European markets and ultimately the entire world will certainly bear the brunt of it.
Will European and Global Stock Market Hold-Up With Potential Vaccine Efficacy?
Since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic as a whole, the confidence many governments leaned on to restore free travel and an open economy was based on the efficacies of vaccines developed by the hoard of pharmaceutical companies around today.
According to trials conducted by Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) per the efficiency of its mRNA-1273 vaccine on the new variant of the coronavirus, the company said its approved booster shots can prevent illness by boosting human’s antibodies.
“The dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant is concerning to all. However, these data showing that the currently authorized Moderna COVID-19 booster can boost neutralizing antibody levels 37-fold higher than pre-boost levels are reassuring,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna as it was reported earlier by Coinspeaker.
Beyond Moderna, other players including Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) have also expressed confidence in the efficacy of their vaccines over the new Omicron variant. With promising trends from these pharmaceutical stocks, both the European and the global stock markets can maintain stability into the near future even though governments choose partial lockdowns in response to the ongoing pandemic.