European Stocks Rise in Year-End Trading
European stock markets rose slightly Thursday in quiet end-of-year trading as the Omicron variant dominates sentiment.
Asia's main indices ended mixed, while Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime was a big winner with a 23-percent jump to its share price on its Hong Kong debut.
Wall Street had steadied Wednesday, as the United States hit its highest-ever seven-day average of new Covid cases and the World Health Organization warned that a "tsunami" of infections would push health systems to the brink of collapse.
But investors have also clung to data showing a reduced risk of hospitalization from Omicron, and the fact that trading volumes are extremely low in the period between Christmas and the New Year.
"Despite global surges in Covid cases, the markets are reflecting the new reality that Covid is here to stay albeit more on our terms than its," noted Kevin Philip, managing director at Bel Air Investment Advisors.
Aviation giant Emirates said it expects business to grow next year despite the surge in global coronavirus cases fuelled by Omicron.
Tokyo closed lower Thursday, its last trading day of 2021, but the benchmark Nikkei index rose nearly five percent for the year to its highest annual close since the 1989 boom.
Elsewhere in Asia, embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande tumbled 10 percent after a report that the group had failed to meet two more offshore payments.
In Europe, data showed that a record number of companies made their market debut on the Euronext index in 2021 as the pan-European exchange benefitted from Brexit and added Milan to the group.
Euronext said 212 companies were newly listed this year for a total market capitalization of 123 billion euros ($139 billion), but it did not indicate how many had delisted.
The index includes exchanges in Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Oslo, Paris, and Milan, which joined the group this year.
- Key figures around 1145 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,427.19 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 15,869.80
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,185.24
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 4,303.61
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 28,791.71 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 23,112.01 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,619.19 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 4,793.06 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1318 from $1.1347
Pound/dollar: DOWN at 1.3481 from $1.3499
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.94 pence from 84.06 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 115.14 from 115.01 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $78.76 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $76.10 per barrel
Source: Agence France Presse
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