European stocks mainly rose yesterday and the euro climbed slightly against the dollar in thin trade following gains across many Asian equity markets.
In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.83 per cent to end the day at 3,890.65 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX gained 0.34 per cent to finish at 6,995.47 points.
But in London FTSE 100 index dipped 0.21 per cent in its first post-holiday trading session, dropping back below the 6,000 barrier to finish at 5,996.96 points.
The FTSE on Friday closed above the psychological 6,000-point level for the first time in 30 months thanks to a Christmas Eve rally.
“London’s FTSE 100 went into the Christmas break on a resounding high,” said trader Ben Critchley at IG Index.
“Before Friday, the FTSE hadn’t closed above 6,000 since June 2008, and it will now be interesting to watch and see whether investors will want to take profits out of this latest surge, or dig in and set 6,000 as a base for further growth in 2011,” he added.
Elsewhere in Europe, Swiss stocks were stable, Milan picked up 0.11, Lisbon rose 0.18 per cent, Brussels gained 0.74 per cent and Madrid climbed 0.79 per cent.
In Amsterdam the AEX index rose 0.46 per cent to hit a new high this year of 358.32 points.
On Wall Street, stocks continued to rise yesterday after blue chip stocks hit fresh two-year highs the previous day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.24 per cent to 11,603.88 at 1720 GMT.
The broader S&P 500 index gained 0.24 per cent to 1,261.51, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.21 per cent to 2,668.57.
“The odds-on bet is that there will be more ‘drifting’ in the major averages during the day before things finally settle with a small gain,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com pointing to past form.
Asian stock markets mostly rose yesterday as Shanghai shares started to recover from jitters caused by a weekend interest rate hike, while firm oil prices lifted energy stocks, traders said.
In foreign exchange trade, the euro jumped to $1.3173 at 1700 GMT from $1.3116 late on Tuesday in New York.
The dollar meanwhile fell to 81.94 yen from 82.43 yen late on Tuesday, while the British pound traded mixed.
“Today’s currency movements will owe more to an illiquid market than they will to the ecostats,” said analysts at Moneycorp.