European stocks, Asian shares fall

Gulf Today Report 

European stocks ended the week with a fall on the prospects of tighter lockdowns in Germany and France and surge in cases in China. 

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5% set to end the week marginally lower.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants "very fast action" after the country saw a record number of deaths from the coronavirus, while French government said it will strengthen its border controls from Monday and impose an earlier curfew from Saturday to curb the spread.

The German DAX declined by 0.5%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.6% and the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.6%. 

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Asian shares 

Asian shares slumped on Friday after a terrible US jobs report and a slide in several Big Tech stocks.

Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.6% to 28,518.65 and the Hang Seng in Hong Konglost 0.3% to 28,405.72. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was flat at 6,715.40. South Korea's Kospi skidded 1.8% to 3,093.29, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.6% to 3,543.64. 

Markets have been advancing following optimism of a recovering economy due to the coronavirus vaccine. 

The new US stimulus plan is expected to temporarily boost unemployment benefits, the plan includes $1,400 checks for individuals. 

Investors are hoping that more government stimulus can tide the economy over until COVID-19 vaccines get daily life back toward normal and trigger a powerful recovery later this year.