Europe open: Shares edge ahead despite Omicron worries

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.57% in early deals as investors eyed key central bank meetings in the UK, US and eurozone for any signs of moves to curb rising inflation.

Asia shares closed lower on concerns over the economic fallout of the new virus variant.

European stocks slipped Monday as traders reacted to developments regarding the omicron Covid variant. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed yesterday that at least one patient infected with the new omicron variant of Covid-19 has died in the country.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index rose after data showed a fall in unemployment as businesses continued to hire staff despite the end of the furlough programme.

The number of people jobless and seeking work dropped by 127,000 to 1.423 million in the three months to the end of October, the Office for National Statistics said. The jobless rate edged down to 4.2% from 4.3%.

In equity news, Vifor Pharma was once again in favour after Australian biopharma giant CSL confirmed on Monday it was in talks to buy the Swiss drugmaker in a deal reportedly worth about $7.2bn.

Ocado shares were up as the online grocery delivery company won a patent case against Norwegian robotic company AutoStore and also said it expected to return to strong, mid-teens revenue growth in 2022, at the top of the historic pre-Covid range of 10% - 15%.

Shares in BT Group fell 5% as the Patrick Drahi-owned Altice increased its stake in the British telecoms firm to 18% but said it would not be making a takeover offer.