European shares opened lower on Monday as concerns over increasing cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant offset a sharp rise in Morrisons shares as rival bidders circled the UK supermarket chain.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.32%. French shares fell 0.50% as Health Minister Olivier Veran warned France could be heading for a fourth wave of the pandemic due to the Delta variant, which started in India.
Investors fear the economic recovery could be thwarted as the number of cases rise and countries are slow to introduce travel restrictions. In the UK medical experts have expressed severe concerns at the government’s insistence that all restrictions will be lifted on July 19.
In economic news, Euro zone businesses expanded activity at the fastest rate in 15 years in June as the easing of more coronavirus restrictions brought life back to the bloc’s dominant service industry, a survey showed on Monday.
IHS Markit’s final composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), seen as a good gauge of economic health, jumped to 59.5 last month from May’s 57.1, its highest level since June 2006.
Shares in Morrisons jumped 11.4% to a near eight-year high as US private equity company Apollo Global Management said it was considering a possible offer for the British supermarket group. Morrisons on Saturday agreed to a £6.3bn with rival buyout specialist Fortress.
