European stocks fall near 2-week low on fears of third coronavirus wave

European stocks fell in early trading on Tuesday, diving near a 2-week low, while on the cusp of the first daily loss in 3 days, amid risk-off sentiment due to fears over the third wave of the Covid-19 infections in Europe.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.2% as of 11:18 GMT, after closing higher by 0.2% yesterday and hit a 2-week high of 427 points following record gains in Wall Street.

The automotive sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, falling 2%, due to concerns of a slowdown in the Eurozone economic recovery.

Several European countries re-imposed lockdown restrictions after a surge in Covid-19 cases, and the spread of the third wave of infections, in addition to the emergence of a new variant of the virus.

The German government has extended its lockdown restrictions until April 18, and asked citizens to stay home to contain the pandemic.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.5% ahead of Wall Street opening after the index closed higher by 0.7% yesterday.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.2%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.3%, Germany DAX index fell 0.1%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.