European markets opened lower on Tuesday ahead of the New Year holidays.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 the index opened slightly lower, down 0.07%, while that of London FTSE100 index and that of France CAC40 both slipped 0.25% at the open, with both markets scheduled for half a day of trading. Spain IBEX open flat while the Dutch AEX Index was down 0.14%.
Markets in Germany, Switzerland and Italy are closed today and all European markets will be closed on New Year’s Day before reopening on January 2.
European markets closed lower on Monday after the last full trading session of the year, but regional stocks are expected to finish the year with moderate gains. The Stoxx 600 is up about 5.5% year to date, although that’s far behind the United States. S&P500 index, which gained approximately 25% during the year 2024.
Traders will once again keep an eye on the New York-listed stocks of Boeing after one of its planes was involved in a fatal accident in South Korea on Sunday.
Boeing Stock were down about 2.2% Monday. South Korean authorities are preparing to conduct an investigation in the accident, in which 179 people died, with the aim of determining the exact cause.
The Boeing 737-800, the model involved in the crashis one of the most widely used aircraft in the world and has a strong safety record.
US Stock Futures were down slightly heading into the final trading session of 2024, following another boom year for Wall Street. Asia-Pacific Markets fell overnight as Chinese manufacturing growth beat expectations. The country’s benchmark index, the CSI 300, was nevertheless on track to close the year higher, ending three years of losses.
— CNBC’s Chloe Taylor contributed to this market report.