European Shares Gain In Thin Trade As Manufacturing Downturn Eases
(RTTNews) - European stocks traded higher on Monday after recording their worst annual performance since 2018 last year.
Trading volumes remained thin due to New Year holidays in the United Sates and some countries across Europe, including the U.K. and Switzerland.
Underlying sentiment was boosted after a survey showed the intensity of the eurozone manufacturing sector downturn eased in the final month of 2022.
S&P Global's final manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 47.8 in December from November's 47.1, matching a preliminary reading.
Investors shrugged off separate data showing that China's manufacturing and services sectors weakened the most since early 2020 in December.
The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index was up 0.7 percent at 427.91 after a turbulent year marked by heightened geopolitical tensions and aggressive central bank rate hikes.
The German DAX jumped 0.9 percent and France's CAC 40 index added 1.30 percent.
The dollar traded slightly higher against other major currencies at the beginning of the near year, as investors looked for clues from U.S. employment data and minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve due this week.
In corporate news, Volvo Car shares jumped nearly 4 percent. The Sweden-based automaker said it had taken 100 percent ownership of its autonomous driving (AD) software development subsidiary Zenseact.
Ahold Delhaize rose over 1 percent. The Dutch supermarket company has begun the 1 billion euros share buyback program announced on November 9, 2022 and expects to complete the program before the end of 2023.
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