European Shares Plummet on Oil-Driven Inflation Fears

European shares fell on Tuesday due to rising oil prices and concerns over global inflation. The pan-European STOXX 600 index declined by 0.6% at 646.1 points, while Germany's DAX shed 0.6%, London's FTSE lost 0.4%, and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.5%. This comes after a relatively quiet session on Monday due to a US public holiday.

The decline was led by Novartis, which dropped 10.2% after announcing another setback in its drug development pipeline. The Swiss pharmaceutical company reported that late-stage testing of the del-desiran drug for myotonic dystrophy failed to meet its primary endpoint.

Energy shares were a rare bright spot, gaining 0.6% as Brent crude futures traded around $98.5 per barrel after Iran threatened to retaliate against any new attacks by targeting energy infrastructure across the Gulf.