EUROPEAN EQUITIES UPDATE: STOXX 600 edges higher, VTY LN cuts guidance on Christmas Eve

STOXX 600: +0.2%

• European bourses are slightly firmer today, in holiday-thinned conditions and with newsflow light.


• As a reminder, for cash markets; FTSE 100: Markets closing process commences from 1230GMT/0730EST. Euronext Cash: Half day trading except from Milan and Olso which are closed. DAX: Closed. IBEX 35: Trading will halt at 1300GMT/0800EST. FTSE MIB: Closed. SMI: Closed.

Sectors: Positive

• European sectors hold a strong positive bias, in-fitting with the sentiment seen in Europe.


• Travel & Leisure takes the top spot, paring some of the hefty losses seen in the prior session, which was led by downside in gambling name Evolution. Energy is buoyed by the continued strength in underlying oil prices.


• Insurance is found at the bottom of the pile, joined closely by Consumer Products and Services.

Majors: FTSE 100 +0.4%, CAC 40 +0.3%

• The FTSE 100 is marginally on a firmer footing, in quiet newsflow amid the holiday thinned-conditions. Vistry (-16%) sank at the open after the Co. cut its FY24 adj. PBT guidance to GBP 250mln (prev. 300mln); peers such as Persimmon (-1.3%) and Barratt Redrow (-0.8%) also lag. Elsewhere, US FDA approves Hikma's (U/C) generic version of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Victoza.


• The CAC 40 is also open for cash trade; Renault (+1.9%) tops the pile, followed closely by STMicroelectronics (+1.6%), though with little driving the upside.

US Equity Futures: ES +0.1%, NQ +0.2%, RTY -0.1%

• Futures are mixed and lack any firm direction, ultimately trading on either side of the unchanged mark.


• There is an early close for US stocks today. It is a thin day for scheduled data, with only the Richmond Fed's manufacturing gauge for December due. US will sell USD 70bln of 5yr notes, and USD 28bln of 2yr FRNs.

24 Dec 2024 - 09:25- EquitiesEU Research- Source: Newsquawk