由于新的
Covid-19 变种的出现震动了全球市场，周五股市下跌，油价暴跌超过 10%。
亚洲市场领涨，香港恒生指数 (HSI) 下跌 2.7%，而日本日经 225 (N225) 指数下跌 2.5%。欧洲市场也出现大幅抛售，包括富时100、法国CAC40（CAC40）和德国DAX（DAX）在内的主要指数跌幅在3%至4%之间。
周四因感恩节休市的美国市场在周五缩短的交易时段也受到重创。道指 (INDU) 期货下跌超过 900 点，跌幅约为 2.5%。标准普尔 500 指数 (INX) 和纳斯达克 (COMP) 指数下跌近 2%。
美国石油期货下跌超过 11%，至每桶 70 美元以下。全球石油基准布伦特原油也同样下跌至 73 美元左右。
南非卫生部长周四表示，一种新的冠状病毒变种似乎正在该国部分地区迅速传播。在博茨瓦纳、香港、以色列和比利时也发现了它。
英国卫生部长 Sajid Javid 表示，这种变体“可能比 Delta 毒株更具传染性”，“我们目前拥有的疫苗可能效果较差”。新的压力已经促使英国政府禁止来自六个非洲国家的航班。一些欧盟国家也在采取类似措施。
Oanda 亚太区高级市场分析师杰弗里·哈雷 (Jeffrey Halley) 周五在一份研究报告中表示，投资者对新的 Covid-19 变种的发现感到“惊慌”。
经济学家已经在紧张地注视着欧洲 Covid-19 感染的激增。一些国家出台了新的限制措施以控制价差，在通胀和供应链困境已经给增长前景蒙上阴影之际，这增加了今年冬天活动减少的可能性。
德国周五报告了 76,414 例病例，创下单日新高。该国代理卫生部长延斯·斯潘 (Jens Spahn) 告诉记者，欧洲最大经济体的 Covid-19 局势“比迄今为止大流行中的任何时候都更严重”，他警告说，如果果断采取措施，将在未来几周内采取“严厉措施”现在没有采取行动减少人与人之间的接触。
贝伦贝格银行的经济学家在周五的一份报告中评论说：“除了当前欧洲核心地区的感染浪潮之外，正在南非迅速传播的新型病毒……正在引起严重担忧。”
他们补充说：“如果德国要实施全国封锁，我们可能不得不进一步下调对德国和欧元区第四季度 GDP 的预测。”
旅游和航空股是周五跌幅最大的股票之一。
“考虑到今年早些时候的 delta 浪潮，投资者可能会先出手，然后再提出问题，直到对此有更多了解，”哈雷说。
Stocks and oil plunge as new Covid variant fears slam global markets
Stocks fell and oil prices plunged more than 10% on Friday as the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant rattled global markets.
Asian markets led the way, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropping 2.7%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 (N225) was down 2.5%. European markets also sold off heavily, with major indexes including the FTSE100, France's CAC40 (CAC40) and Germany's DAX (DAX) falling between 3% and 4%.
US markets, which were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, were also slammed during Friday's shortened trading session. Dow (INDU) futures fell more than 900 points, or about 2.5%. The S&P 500 (INX) and Nasdaq (COMP) were down nearly 2%.
US oil futures sank by more than 11% to trade below $70 a barrel. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, suffered a similar drop to around $73.
South Africa's health minister said Thursday that a new coronavirus variant appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of the country. It has also been detected in Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium.
UK Health Minister Sajid Javid said the variant "may be more transmissible" than the Delta strain and that "the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective." The new strain has already prompted the UK government to ban flights from six African countries. Some EU countries are taking similar measures.
Investors were "spooked" by the discovery of the new Covid-19 variant, Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at Oanda, said in a research note on Friday.
Economists were already nervously watching a spike in Covid-19 infections in Europe. Some countries have introduced new restrictions to contain the spread, raising the prospect of reduced activity this winter at a time when inflation and supply chain woes are already clouding the outlook for growth.
Germany reported 76,414 cases on Friday, a new record for a single day. The country's acting health minister, Jens Spahn, told reporters that the Covid-19 situation in Europe's biggest economy was "more serious than at any other time in the pandemic so far" and he warned of "drastic measures in the coming weeks" if decisive action is not taken now to reduce contact between people.
"Beyond the current wave of infections in core Europe, a new variant of the ... virus that is spreading rapidly in South Africa is causing serious concerns," commented economists at Berenberg bank in a note on Friday.
"If Germany were to impose a national lockdown, we would likely have to downgrade our forecasts for German and eurozone GDP for Q4 slightly further," they added.
Travel and airline stocks are among the biggest fallers Friday.
"With the delta wave in mind from earlier this year, investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known about it," Halley said.
— Rob North and Nadine Schmidt contributed to this article.
