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* Travel, energy stocks lead declines
* Markets eye crucial c.bank meetings this week
* Vifor Pharma surges on CSL buyout talks
(Updates to close)
By Anisha Sircar and Shashank Nayar
Dec 13 (Reuters) - European shares ended lower on Monday,
led by travel and energy stocks over rising Omicron variant
risks, while a wave of central bank policy decisions this week
kept investor sentiment subdued.
The pan-European benchmark STOXX 600 erased early
session gains to end 0.4% lower, marking its fourth consecutive
day in the red.
Travel stocks dropped 2.6% on risks of tougher
movement restrictions after the United Kingdom reported its
first death from the Omicron coronavirus variant.
London's FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, dropped 0.8%
and 1.2% respectively, to mark their worst session in two weeks.
UK travel stocks dropped 3.5%.
Oil prices weakened on worries the new variant and related
curbs would hit demand. Europe's energy sector lost with
Royal Dutch and BP down between 2.2% and 2.7%.
"Creeping headlines about the Omicron variant are weighing
on traders' minds," said David Madden, market analyst at Equiti
Capital.
Investor focus is on monetary policy decisions expected to
be taken by the European Central Bank (ECB), the U.S. Federal
Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan this week.
The ECB is set to halve the amount of assets it buys each
month from April, according to a Reuters poll, which judged that
a reprieve from high euro zone inflation by late 2022 means a
rate hike is years away.
"It's going to be a relatively dovish week due to Omicron,"
said Willem Sels, global chief investment officer at HSBC,
adding that the ECB is likely to keep its pandemic emergency
purchase programme (PEPP) in place due to the emergence of the
new variant.
Concerns about the fast-spreading Omicron variant and
surging inflation have spurred bouts of selling in the markets
recently, keeping the STOXX 600 over 3% below its all-time high
hit in mid-November.
On the upside, Vifor Pharma surged 18.5% after the
Swiss drugmaker and Australia's CSL both confirmed they
were talking about a potential merger.
Norwegian aluminium maker Norsk Hydro rose 2.7%
after raising its cost-cutting targets and announcing plans to
pay a bigger dividend for 2021 following a jump in earnings.
Daimler Truck rallied almost 11%, extending gains
after a strong debut in Friday, with Citigroup starting coverage
with a "buy" rating.
(Reporting by Anisha Sircar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips, Maju Samuel and Dan Grebler)