Europe Stocks Little Changed After Rally Amid Shortened Trading

By Inyoung Hwang

European shares were little changed, after their biggest six-day rally in three years, in shortened trading hours for Christmas Eve.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent to 343.91 at 9:38 a.m. in London, with the volume of shares changing hands 84 percent below the 30-day average. Energy companies rose for a sixth day in seven, posting the biggest gain among 19 industry groups, while commodity producers fell.
The European index rallied 6.4 percent in the past six days, its biggest jump since December 2011, as oil-and-gas producers rebounded, the Federal Reserve said it will be patient in the timing of interest-rate increases and the U.S. economy expanded more than forecast.
“We’re still in the same game of global easing, very low interest rates and disinflation in parts,” Veronika Pechlaner, who helps oversee $2.3 billion at Ashburton Ltd., said from Jersey, the Channel Islands. “Valuations have gone from very attractive to
more average levels, but they’re not that extended. I wouldn’t be too negative on equities.”
The Stoxx 600 has recovered about two-thirds of the losses it posted earlier this month, pushing its valuation to 15.7 times estimated earnings from a low of 14 times in October. It closed 2 percent below its almost seven-year high reached Dec. 5 and is down 1 percent for December, trimming its annual advance to 4.8 percent.
Trading on the London Stock Exchange will end at 12:30 p.m. local time today, and NYSE Euronext’s European cash markets are closing 35 minutes later. The Madrid bourse will stop trading at 2 p.m. local time. Bourses in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the Nordic countries are closed.

FTSE, CAC

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index added 0.1 percent for a seventh day of gains, the longest stretch since February. Spain’s IBEX 35 Index also climbed 0.1 percent, while France’s CAC 40 Index dropped 0.3 percent.
A gauge of European oil-and-gas producers is heading for its highest level since Dec. 5. BP Plc gained 1.1 percent and Ophir Energy Plc advanced 2.4 percent. Miners dropped the most, led by a 1.4 percent decline in Randgold Resources Ltd.
Amid stocks moving on corporate news, Smith & Nephew Plc jumped 7.6 percent as people familiar with the matter said Stryker Corp. is planning a takeover offer for the U.K. medical-device maker, a bid that could come within weeks. HeidelbergCement AG added 1.7 percent after agreeing to sell its Hanson Building Products business, a maker of concrete and clay products, to Lone Star Funds for $1.4 billion
In the U.S., a report may show that initial jobless claims climbed to 290,000 in the week ended Dec. 20. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures and Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts were little changed after the indexes climbed to records. The Dow topped 18,000 for the first time yesterday.