European shares sank more than 2 per cent on Monday, their worst session in nine months on worries that the fast-spreading Delta coronavirus variant could slow the global economic recovery Reuters reports.
Commodity-linked stocks, banks and travel shares lost more than 3pc, with the oil and travel and leisure indices hitting February lows.
Extending losses from last week, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 2.3pc, with all sectors in the red.
The German DAX dropped 2.6pc, while Italy's MIB plunged 3.3pc, its steepest one-day drop since October. UK's FTSE 100 slumped 2.3pc as rising coronavirus cases overshadowed optimism about England's reopening of the economy.
