12/21/2020 8:44 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 12/21/2020 8:44 AM
London shares have fallen dramatically and the pound has lost ground after several
EU
countries
closed their borders
to the United Kingdom, due to the advance of a new variant of coronavirus.
The FTSE 100 equity index fell 3%, while the main markets of Germany and France fell almost 4%.
The British pound fell more than 1% against the euro and fell 2% against the dollar.
The travel restrictions hit airline stocks, with British Airways owner IAG and EasyJet falling more than 11%.
A screen shows the fall of the IBEX on the Madrid Stock Exchange.
Photo: EFE
Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce was also badly hit, falling 10%.
The decline was repeated in other European markets.
Shares of Air France-KLM fell 7%, while aircraft maker Airbus fell 6.5%.
"Investors' optimistic expectations for 2021 have suddenly faded," said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at commodities brokerage Fujitomi Co.
The Spanish stock market also lost 4.37% at midday and was still below the level of 7,700 points affected by the measures adopted by some countries to prevent the spread of the new and contagious strain.
The biggest falls in the IBEX corresponded to companies
linked to the United Kingdom
: IAG lost 12.88%, while Banco Sabadell lost 8.08% and Meliá Hotels 7.47%.
The smallest drop in IBEX fell on Siemens Gamesa, falling 0.58%, while Cie Automotive fell 1.59% and Cellnex 1.82%.
Canceled flights
Colombia, Chile, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Canada or Saudi Arabia are some of the countries that
suspended or restricted
their flights from the United Kingdom due to a new, more contagious strain of the coronavirus, bad news that coincides with good:
the imminent approval
of the first vaccine for the European Union.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson chaired an emergency meeting on Monday to "analyze the situation regarding international movements and in particular
the regular flow of freight
to and from the United Kingdom", while the country's isolation increases as the hours pass.
This variant of the virus would be up to
70% more contagious
, although it has not been proven to be more lethal.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that it could also affect "
the effectiveness
of some diagnostic methods."
The WHO urged to "reinforce the controls" in Europe since outside the British territory,
several cases
of this new strain
were detected
in Denmark (9) and one in Italy, Holland and Australia respectively.
Within the European Union (EU), more than a dozen countries interrupted or restricted their connections with the United Kingdom for a
few days
.
In addition, all European states analyze a common response to maritime, rail and road connections with the United Kingdom.
Agencies
ap
Look also
Argentina also suspended flights to Great Britain due to the appearance of a new strain of coronavirus
Due to a new strain of coronavirus, more and more countries isolate Britain