Europe: Stocks rise in year-end trading

[LONDON] European stock markets rose slightly on Thursday (Dec 30) in quiet end-of-year trading as the Omicron coronavirus variant dominates sentiment.

Asia's main indices ended mixed, while Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime was a big winner with a 23 per cent jump to its share price on its Hong Kong debut.

Wall Street had steadied on Wednesday as the United States hit its highest 7-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 hospitalisation 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.

Elsewhere in Asia, embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande tumbled 10 per cent after a report that the group had failed to meet 2 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 capitalisation of 123 billion euros (S$188.5 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 per cent at 7,427.19 points
• Frankfurt - DAX: up 0.1 per cent at 15,869.80
• Paris - CAC 40: up 0.3 per cent at 7,185.24
• Euro STOXX 50: up 0.4 per cent at 4,303.61

AFP