European Stocks End Lower Amid Concerns of Vaccine Efficacy Against New COVID-19 Variant

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday amid increasing concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the efficacy of the existing vaccines against it.

Germany's DAX declined 1.2%, the Stoxx Europe slipped 0.9%, and France's CAC 40 fell 0.8%. The FTSE 100 in the UK dipped 0.7% and the Swiss Market Index ended down 0.5%.

Annual inflation in the euro area is expected to hit 4.9% in November, compared with 4.1% in October and negative-0.3% a year earlier, according to flash estimates released by Eurostat. The latest figure exceeds an estimate of 4.5%.

The euro area's annual core inflation climbed to 2.6% in November from 2% in October and just 0.2% a year earlier, according to Eurostat flash estimates. On a monthly basis, inflation, excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, was 0.1%, compared with 0.3% in October.

The European Medicines Agency is prepared to approve COVID-19 vaccines effective against the omicron variant within three to four months, Executive Director Emer Cooke told the European Parliament on Tuesday. She told lawmakers the regulatory body is ready for the possibility existing vaccines will have to be upgraded to cope with the newly identified variant.

As expected, France's gross domestic product climbed 3% in the third quarter to reach close to pre-crisis levels, following 1.3% growth in the previous three-month period, the national statistics agency's final estimate showed. The latest quarterly figure is 0.1% below the level in the fourth quarter of 2019.

On the corporate front, Wise's WISE stock rose nearly 8% after profit in the first half of fiscal 2022 declined year over year as the financial technology company reinvested the majority of its additional gross profit and incurred exceptional costs related to its London listing.