Oil-Driven Inflation Fears Sink European Stocks, Novartis Plunges

European stocks fell on Tuesday as rising oil prices fueled inflation concerns and sparked worries about supply disruptions. The pan-European STOXX 600 index dropped by 0.6% to 646.1 points, with Germany's DAX, London's FTSE, and France's CAC 40 all shedding around 0.5-0.6%.

Novartis led the decline, plummeting by a staggering 10.2%, after the company announced disappointing results for its del-desiran drug in treating myotonic dystrophy. This setback follows another recent failure of an experimental cholesterol drug, pelacarsen.

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at Stone-X, attributed Novartis' woes to 'a level of disappointment,' but also noted the company's solid performance so far this year.

Banking shares took a hit, falling 1.3%, as investors grew more cautious about the eurozone economy due to rising oil prices and concerns over inflation. Energy shares, however, bucked the trend, gaining 0.6% as Brent crude futures hovered around $98.5 per barrel.