European Markets Pulled Back Ahead Of The New Year's Holiday

(RTTNews) - The majority of the European markets that were open for business Thursday finished in the red. Markets in Germany, Italy and Switzerland were closed for the New Year's Eve holiday today, while markets in the U.K., France and the Netherlands were open for an abbreviated trading session. Markets will be closed Friday for the New Year's Day holiday. Trading activity was relatively light due to the holiday and the number of closures and early closes. The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks decreased 0.62 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, lost 0.56 percent.

The CAC 40 of France fell 0.86 percent and the FTSE of the U.K. declined 0.51 percent.

The DAX of Germany ended the year with an increase of about 9.5 percent and the CAC 40 rose around 8.5 percent. The FTSE finished the year with a loss of about 4.9 percent, while the SMI of Switzerland fell 1.8 percent.

In Paris, LVMH declined 1.53 percent and Kering fell 1.56 percent. Carrefour also finished lower by 1.71 percent.

Technip dropped 1.82 percent and Total lost 0.72 percent.

Renault decreased 1.80 percent and Peugeot dipped 0.49 percent.

Engie jumped 3.97 percent and Alcatel-Lucent gained 2.99 percent.

In London, Vodafone increased 1.61 percent on rumors of possible merger with Liberty Global.

J Sainsbury dropped 2.21 percent and Wm Morrison Supermarkets lost 1.79 percent.

The eurocoin indicator, which measures the current economic situation in the euro area, increased notably in December to the highest level in four-and-a-half years, the Bank of Italy and the Centre for Economic Policy Research said in a survey report on Thursday.

The eurocoin indicator rose to 0.45 in December from 0.37 in the previous month. The latest reading was the highest level since July 2011.

Britons' housing equity injections decreased to the lowest level in almost six years in the third quarter, the Bank of England said Thursday. Households injected GBP 8.82 billion in the third quarter compared to GBP 12.17 billion in the previous three months. This was the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2009, when it totaled GBP 8.1 billion.

Ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report next week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended December 26th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 287,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 267,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 270,000.

Chicago-area business unexpectedly saw a continued contraction in the month of December, according to a report released by MNI Indicators on Thursday. MNI Indicators said its Chicago business barometer dropped to 42.9 in December from 48.7 in November, with a reading below 50 indicating a contraction in activity.

The decrease by the business barometer came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to climb to 50.0.