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* England to introduce fine on travel abroad
* Volvo slumps as chip shortage to hit production
* Germany tightens restrictions during Easter
(Adds comments, updates prices throughout)
By Sruthi Shankar and Shreyashi Sanyal
March 23 (Reuters) - European stocks eased from a one-year
peak on Tuesday, as a new wave of coronavirus infection and a
fresh lockdown in Germany raised fears of a slow economic
recovery from the pandemic.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX fell 0.2% after a
new round of sanctions aimed at China hit Asian markets.
MKTS/GLOB
Germany's DAX .GDAXI was flat after Chancellor Angela
Merkel decided to extend a lockdown until April 18 and called on
citizens to stay at home for five days over the Easter holidays.
Swedish truckmaker Volvo VOLVb.ST slumped 7.0% after it
warned a shortage of semiconductors would have a substantial
impact on production in the second quarter. Its stock weighed on Europe's industrial goods and services
sector .SXNP , while automakers .SXAP slid 2.7% to give back
some of their recent gains.
"Now fears of another wave of the virus in mainland Europe
have sparked worries that several countries in the region will
have to reopen their economies later than anticipated," said
David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.
"The mood isn't awful, traders aren't running for the hills,
but there is a sense of fatigue that the restrictive climate
will drag on a bit longer."
The STOXX 600 last week climbed to its highest since
February, recouping most of the pandemic-driven losses on hopes
that vaccination drives and stimulus measures will spur a strong
economic rebound.
The gains have slowed this week amid worries about a surge
in COVID-19 cases. The tally of new cases in France accelerated
despite the start of a third lockdown, while Austria postponed
the reopening of cafe and restaurants. Travel & leisure stocks .SXTP fell again, with British
Airways-owner IAG ICAG.L , easyJet EZJ.L and travel company
TUI TUIT.L down between 2.6% and 6%.
British health minister Matt Hancock said fines of 5,000
pounds ($6,900) would be introduced for people from England who
try to travel abroad before the end of June. Swiss drugmaker Roche ROG.S fell 1.7% after it dropped a
late-stage trial of its Huntington's disease treatment hope,
tominersen. Swiss online pharmacy chain Zur Rose ROSEG.S surged to the
top of STOXX 600 after Morgan Stanley started coverage with an
"overweight" rating.