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* easyJet, travel stocks slide on fears of curbs
* Costs for UK's service sector firms soar
* AstraZeneca shares dip
* FTSE 100 trims losses on recovery in mining stocks
(Updates to market close)
By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Ambar Warrick
Nov 30 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip share index closed
above session lows on Tuesday, but marked its worst monthly
decline in more than a year as concerns over the Omicron
coronavirus variant hammered economically sensitive sectors.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.7% after dropping as much as
1.7% through the day. It shed more than 2% in November.
Most sectors in the FTSE 100 retreated. But mining stocks
staged a late recovery, helping the index pare some losses as
they tracked a jump in iron ore prices.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said another lockdown was
unlikely in light of the new variant, but would keep everything
under review.
The domestically focussed mid-cap index fell 1.0%.
Global stock markets slumped after comments from vaccine
maker Moderna's head that existing COVID-19 vaccines
were unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant as
they have been against the Delta version.
Drugmaker AstraZeneca, which also makes COVID-19
vaccines, fell 1.1%.
British airline easyJet slid 1.2% after reporting
some softening of trading in its first quarter on COVID-19
outbreaks and the discovery of the Omicron variant. Broader
travel and leisure stocks also sank.
"It almost feels like minus 10% for travel stocks is the new
black," said Max Kettner, multi-asset strategist at HSBC.
"Sentiment around reopening stocks has hit absolutely rock
bottom now and it's not just been a function of last Friday, but
it has been a function of two or three months already."
Meanwhile, data showed costs were rising at the fastest rate
in over 20 years for firms in Britain's services sector, putting
the Bank of England in a tough spot as they face rising
inflation and economic risks at the same time.
The internationally focussed FTSE 100 has underperformed its
domestic counterpart so far this year, gaining 8.3% compared
with the 9.6% rise in the FTSE 250 index.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu Uttaresh.V and Keith Weir)
