Stay-Home Stocks Find New Favor as Lockdown Concerns Grip Europe

(Bloomberg) --

Looming lockdowns in Europe are sending shares in companies that benefit from pandemic-related restrictions soaring anew as Covid-19 cases increase.

Meal-kit maker HelloFresh SE, food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway.com NV and computer hardware maker Logitech International SA were among stocks on the rise after Germany said that it wasn’t ruling out a lockdown. Meanwhile, Austrians are planning to hunker down from the start of next week after Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg announced strict new curbs on Friday.

“With Covid cases turning upwards across the likes of Germany, France, and Portugal, there is a fear that today’s announcement is indicative of where other European nations could find themselves in two to three weeks’ time,” Joshua Mahony, senior market Analyst at IG Group, said in emailed comments.

Conversely, shares in companies that gain from countries reopening, such as travel stocks, were in retreat. TUI AG, British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines Group SA and Deutsche Lufthansa AG all slumped.

So-called stay-home stocks have been on the back foot this year as the rollout of vaccines prompted governments to ease curbs, while rising bond yields have also weighed on highly valued tech stocks that soared in 2020.

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