The new “Corona” strain reduces oil, “Bitcoin” and European aviation stocks

“Brent crude” fell by about 4%, falling to less than $ 80 a barrel, after the discovery of a new strain of the “Corona” virus worried investors, which reinforced fears of the global oversupply inflation in the first quarter of next year, after coordinated withdrawals from... rough precautions.

The drop in oil comes in conjunction with the decline in the rest of the financial markets, due to fears that the new strain will cause a slowdown in economic growth, and impose restrictions on movement and movement again.

Brent crude futures continued their decline, as they fell $3.16, or 3.8%, to $79.06 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $3.45, or 4.4%, to $74.94 a barrel.

European Aviation

In addition, the shares of European airlines declined, after international moves to impose restrictions on air travel from some southern African countries.

Shares of IAGSA, the parent company of British Airways, fell by 21%, and shares of the German airline Lufthansa fell by 14%.

In turn, "Air Ryan", "Air France-KLM", and other European airlines recorded similar declines in their shares.

And the German Minister of Health, Jens Young, announced that his country decided to classify the country of South Africa as a “Corona” mutated region, because of the new mutant “B.1.1529.”

He explained that only airlines will be allowed to return German citizens from there to Germany, pointing out that this will also apply to countries neighboring South Africa, if necessary.

In turn, the European Union announced that it would propose stopping air travel from southern Africa, in light of growing concerns about the new strain of the "Corona" virus that is spreading in that region.

The European Commission President, Ursula van der Leyen, said in a tweet on Twitter: “The bloc will propose, in close coordination with member states, to activate emergency brakes in order to stop air travel from the southern African region, Because of fears of the new mutated strain.”

The move comes days after the European Union revised its travel rules in order to facilitate travel between and to member states.

For its part, Britain announced the imposition of new travel restrictions on many African countries, due to concerns about a new strain of the “Corona” virus.

Travel restrictions represent another blow to the airline industry, whose recovery process was affected this month, due to the fourth wave of the “Corona” pandemic, which caused a new series of closures in Europe.

Bitcoin is going down

In the same context, the "Bitcoin" currency fell nearly 8% yesterday, after investors abandoned higher-risk assets for assets they consider safer such as bonds, the yen and the dollar.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, fell by as much as 7.8% to $54,377, its lowest level since October 12, 2021.

In turn, "Ether", the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell by 11.6% to its lowest level in a week.

And it recorded in the latest trading of 4,070 dollars, a decrease of about 18% from its highest level recorded on November 10.

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