European stocks slump with travel names hard hit as investors fret over new COVID variant

European stocks fell sharply early Friday, with heavy losses for travel stocks and energy names after a new potentially highly contagious variant of COVID was detected in South Africa. The Stoxx Europe 600 index /zigman2/quotes/210599654/delayed XX:SXXP +1.05% slid 3.8% to 465, with the German DAX /zigman2/quotes/210597999/delayed DX:DAX +1.14% down 3.5%, the French CAC 40 /zigman2/quotes/210597958/delayed FR:PX1 +0.90% sliding 4.3% and the FTSE 100 index /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX +0.90% down 3.4%. The U.K. has announced it will halt travel from South Africa and several other African countries as of Friday. Shares of International Consolidated Airlines /zigman2/quotes/208070069/delayed UK:IAG +1.28% slid 10%, cruise operator Carnival /zigman2/quotes/210414141/delayed UK:CCL 0.00% slumped 16% and Deutsche Lufthansa /zigman2/quotes/205496028/delayed DE:LHA +1.45% dropped 12%. Energy names also weighed heavily as crude fell more than 5% to $73.91 a barrel. BP shares /zigman2/quotes/207305210/composite BP +2.79% /zigman2/quotes/202286639/delayed UK:BP +2.08% fell 8%.

/zigman2/quotes/210599654/delayed

Add to watchlist XX:SXXP

STOXX Europe 600 Index

XX : STOXX

444.72

+4.61 +1.05%

Volume: 0.00

March 27, 2023 11:03p

/zigman2/quotes/210597999/delayed

Add to watchlist DX:DAX

DAX

DX : Xetra Indices

15,127.68

+170.45 +1.14%

Volume: 90,911

March 27, 2023 6:30p

/zigman2/quotes/210597958/delayed

Add to watchlist FR:PX1

CAC 40 Index

FR : France: Euronext Paris

7,078.27

+63.17 +0.90%

Volume: 80,202

March 27, 2023 6:05p

/zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:UKX

FTSE 100 Index

UK : FTSE UK

7,471.77

+66.32 +0.90%

Volume: 544,630

March 27, 2023 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/208070069/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:IAG

International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A.

UK : U.K.: London

137.24 p

+1.74 +1.28%

Volume: 10.60M

March 27, 2023 4:35p

P/E Ratio

19.01

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

£6.71 billion

Rev. per Employee

£297,987

/zigman2/quotes/210414141/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:CCL

Carnival PLC

UK : U.K.: London

652.60 p

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 1.28M

March 27, 2023 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

£9.36 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/205496028/delayed

Add to watchlist DE:LHA

Deutsche Lufthansa AG

DE : Germany: Frankfurt

€ 9.56

+0.14 +1.45%

Volume: 18,175

March 27, 2023 10:59p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

N/A

Rev. per Employee

€264,465

/zigman2/quotes/207305210/composite

Add to watchlist BP

BP PLC ADR

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 36.88

+1.00 +2.79%

Volume: 9.42M

March 27, 2023 4:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

3.86%

Market Cap

$105.53 billion

Rev. per Employee

$3.57M

/zigman2/quotes/202286639/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:BP

BP PLC

UK : U.K.: London

496.40 p

+10.10 +2.08%

Volume: 28.45M

March 27, 2023 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

3.95%

Market Cap

£86.30 billion

Rev. per Employee

£2.90M