Covid-19: Omicron worries spur 2% slide in European stock futures

European stock index futures fell 2% on Monday amid a global sell-off in equities as investors fretted over rapidly rising COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant and the impact of tighter pandemic-related curbs on the global economy.

Futures tracking Europe's top 50 firms slumped 2.5%, with 29,149 contracts changing hands by 0708 GMT.

Among regional markets, UK's FTSE futures dropped 1.8%, while German DAX futures lost 2.5%. Elsewhere, Asian shares fell to one-year lows and oil prices slid more than 3%.

The Netherlands imposed a lockdown on Sunday, while the prospect of tighter COVID-19 measures ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays looms large over several European countries amid the swift spread of the Omicron variant.

Meanwhile, futures tracking the U.S. stocks benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.3% after U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is key to President Joe Biden's hopes of passing a $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill, said on Sunday he would not support the package.

Goldman Sachs cut U.S. real GDP forecast for the first quarter of 2022 to 2% versus 3% previously, and marginally reduced forecasts for the second and third quarters.