The pan-European index STOXX 600 fell 0.1% to 483.01 in a shorter trading session before Christmas. The benchmark advanced 1.9% this week.
London’s FTSE 100 closed flat, while France’s CAC 40 lost 0.3%. Stock markets in several countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United States, remained closed.
“The European market is moving in narrow ranges … due to the low commercial activity of the holidays and also due to fears of possible restrictions and lockdowns,” said Raed Alkhedr, Equiti Group’s chief market analyst.
Italy tightened restrictions on Thursday, including a ban on all public New Year celebrations, as daily COVID-19 infections hit a record high.
The STOXX 600 is entering the period of holidays with ease after rising 21% so far this year. Although 2021 was marked by expansionary monetary policies and encouraging corporate earnings, supply bottlenecks, inflationary pressures and a new variant of COVID-19 threaten growth and recovery in 2022.
France’s Icade rose 0.3% after announcing that its healthcare real estate business acquired four private hospital buildings in Portugal for 213 million euros.
Meanwhile, the biotech Lysogene climbed 9.1% after signing a loan agreement of 15 million euros with the European Investment Bank to accelerate its gene therapy platform.
Asian markets
The main stock exchanges of the Asia-Pacific region closed this Friday with mixed results, on a day in which Hong Kong did not operate because it was a holiday in that country, according to data from the Bloomberg news agency.
Country …………….. Index ………….. Percentage
Japan …………. Nikkei …………..- 0.05%
China…………. Shanghai………..-0,69%
China…………..Shenzhen……….-1,30%
Hong Kong ….. Hang Seng …….. s / o
Korea ………….. Kospi …………… + 0.48%
Taiwán……….. Taiex……………..+0,08%
Source From: Ambito
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