Euro markets: Moderate gains with reduced trading volume

Most European stock exchanges recorded small gains on Thursday, with trading volume remaining limited due to the holidays and while most European countries continue to record new coronavirus cases due to the Omicron mutation.

One after another, European countries announce new negative records of infections due to the highly contagious Omicron mutation. But unlike in previous waves of pandemics, most governments have not reinstated the total lockdowns that led their economies into recession, this time adopting milder restrictive measures. This reinforces the optimism that although the health crisis, the economic recovery will not be derailed.

Optimism about the resilience of the recovery is further strengthened by the high number of vaccinated and the intensive campaign for the third dose of the vaccine that strengthens the protection against and Omicron, but also the initial estimates of the experts that the new mutation causes less serious disease compared with the Delta.

In this climate, the pan-European index STOXX 600 added 0.15% to 488.71 points, with the travel and leisure sector leading the profit with an increase of 1.8%.

In the individual dashboard, the German DAX recorded small gains of 0.21% at 15,884.86 points, the French CAC 40 gained 0.16% to 7,173.23 points, while the British FTSE 100 fell 0.24% to 7,403.01 points and moved away from the 22-month high it had recorded yesterday.

The FTSE 100 and the DAX are heading for gains of 15% per year, while the French CAC has rallied 30%.

In the periphery the Italian FTSE MIB recorded marginal gains at 27,346.83 points, while the Spanish IBEX 35 estrengthened by 0.46% to 8,713.80 points.

In the individual shares, Storskogen Group rose 4% after announcing that it had acquired a 90.1% stake in Nimbus Group.