nov 26  welcome to the home for realtime coverage of markets brought to you by reuters reporters you can share your thoughts with us at marketsresearchthomsonreuterscom the new virus variant sends jitters across financial markets driving european stocks down with pandemic sensitive stocks leading losses the stoxx 600 index stoxx is down 29 with travel and leisure stock index sxtp falling 46 to its september low some stocks in travel companies such as british airways owner iag icagl lufthansa lhagde tui  hit lows close to levels not seen since november 9 2020 when the vaccine breakthrough was announced the oil and gas stock index sxep is down 47 as crude prices plunged amid concerns about the pandemic and oil surplus banks are badly hit as bond yields are falling while markets pare back expectations for the pace of potential rate hikes in the united states the bank stoxx index sx7p is down 49 analysts from raymond james wonder if this may yet prove to be yet another covid scare but they also recall that uk and israeli authorities are taking the news seriously enough to ban flights from the region effective from today they add risk assets were already jittery in response to rising inflationary pressures and some hawkish commentary from central banks its looking like a black friday 0833 gmt covid19 a worry that investors had pushed down their list of top concerns in recent months has soared back up to the number one spot as a new variant spreads across south africa asia stocks outside japan slid over 2 europe and us stock futures are down sharply oil prices drops almost 35 the safehaven yen is up around threequarters of a percent and us treasury yields are down almost 10 basis points thin liquidity following thursdays us thanksgiving day holiday likely exacerbates price moves for sure but theres little doubt overnight headlines have taken markets by surprise on friday little is known of the variant detected in south africa botswana and hong kong but scientists reckon it has an unusual combination of mutations and may be able to evade immune responses or make it more transmissible read more the news comes as europe already battles a resurgent covid19 outbreak triggering fresh restrictions that raise uncertainty over the nearterm economic outlook that poses a fresh challenge for central banks such as the european central bank which has just started to acknowledge that a push in inflation is lasting longer than anticipated and on top of the latest covid headlines there are other reasons for unease some warn  the general lift up in fed rate hike expectations ukrainerussia tensions that has broader geopolitical ramifications and a propertyled slowdown in china in emerging markets the spotlight passes from turkey to south africa for now as the rand breaches the 1600 level to the dollar for the first time this year key developments that should provide more direction to markets on friday  japan pm kishida urges companies to raise wages by 3 or more read more  china evergrande soccer stadium taken over by government source read more  china asks didi to delist from us on data security fears  bloomberg news read more european stocks are set to open sharply lower as a rush to safety and a massive drop in risk assets spread across the globe on more virus concerns stock futures predict a more than 2 drop at opening trades read more south african scientists have detected a covid19 variant with a very unusual constellation of mutations which could help it evade the bodys immune response and make vaccines less effective read more us treasury yields drop 9 basis points and fed funds futures rallied as markets pare back expectations for the pace of potential rate hikes in the united states meanwhile brent crude futures fall below 80 a barrel amid concerns about the pandemic and oil surplus