European stock markets flat and subdued ahead of Christmas

Europe’s STOXX 600 was subdued on Friday in thin pre-Christmas trading after a turbulent week where hopes of an improving economic outlook overshadowed fears of recession and hawkish central banks.

Dublin

After a trickle of trading in the half-day session – a substitute for the normal Christmas Eve half-day – the Iseq finished flat. Euronext Dublin will next resume trading on Wednesday.

AIB rose 1.2 per cent to €3.67 and Bank of Ireland nudged down 0.1 per cent to €8.83. Building materials group CRH added 0.5 per cent to €37.31, while packaging group Smurfit Kappa rose 0.3 per cent to €34.80.

Ryanair fell 1.6 per cent to €12.58, and the food stocks also fell, with Kerry down 1.6 per cent at €84.10 and Glanbia 0.8 per cent lower at €11.68. But volumes were light across the board, meaning the movements were not significant.

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London

London markets struggled to find direction as they headed into the holiday weekend, while strong US economic data fanned fears of interest rates staying higher for longer. The export-oriented FTSE 100 closed flat after a half day, while the domestically-oriented FTSE 250 added 0.4 per cent.

The energy sector closed the session up 0.5 per cent and is on track to end 2022 nearly 44 per cent higher.

Meanwhile, data showed UK car production rose 5.7 per cent in November, but remained below pre-pandemic levels as global chip shortages and supply-chain issues continued to hurt the sector.

The automobiles and auto parts index closed 0.4 per cent higher, down more than 60 per cent year-to-date.

Hurricane Energy rose 2.6 per cent after activist investor Crystal Amber Fund called for the removal of top management at the oil and gas company.

Europe

The STOXX 600 was flat by close and bound for a 0.6 per cent weekly advance.

With the early gains, the index looked set to recoup a small part of last week’s 3.3 per cent loss, which was driven by heightened concerns of a recession after the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank signalled a prolonged rate-hike cycle.

Morale among Italian businesses and consumers rose in December, data showed on Friday, although the manufacturing sector was more downbeat. Germany’s DAX, which traded for the full day, rose 0.2 per cent.

Shares of miners rose 0.8 per cent tracking firm copper prices on low inventories and hopes for economic recovery next year. Industrials added 0.3 per cent, while banks edged up after posting declines in the previous session.

The rate-sensitive tech sector fell 0.6 per cent, limiting gains on the index.

Shares of French bank Credit Agricole and Italy’s Banco BPM (BBPM) edged up on striking a long-term bancassurance partnership on Friday. Bavarian Nordic added 3.9 per cent after the vaccine-maker signed a contract with the US department of defense.

US

Wall Street’s main indexes swung between gains and losses on Friday as investors assessed fresh inflation data, while energy shares jumped on higher oil prices.

A commerce department report showed US consumer spending barely rose in November, while inflation cooled further, but not enough to discourage the Federal Reserve from driving interest rates to higher levels next year.

Energy shares spearheaded gains among the major S&P 500 sectors, led by a more than 2 per cent rise in Exxon Mobil and Chevron as oil prices gained following Moscow’s plans to cut crude output.

Tesla’s shares touched a fresh two-year low in volatile trading as boss Elon Musk’s promise to not sell his shares for at least two years did little to reassure investors.

Dow Jones parent News Corp gained 1.9 per cent on a report that billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg was interested in acquiring either Dow Jones or the Washington Post.

Additional reporting: Reuters