LONDON: European stock markets were mixed yesterday as investor enthusiasm waned over the US fiscal cliff deal that had sparked a rousing global rally on the first trading day of the year.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies added 0.33 percent to close at 6,047.34 points, while Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index dropped 0.29 percent to 7,756.44 points and the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.34 percent to 3,721.17 points.
All three indices had surged by more than two percent on Wednesday, in a bright start to 2013, after US lawmakers agreed a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. On Wall Street, US stocks were also mixed in midday trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index down by a slight 0.06 percent, the broad-based S&P 500 up by 0.11 percent and the Nasdaq Composite adding just 0.05 percent.
Back in Europe, Madrid’s Ibex-35 index lost 0.52 percent but Milan’s FTSE Mib rose by 0.10 percent, one day after both key peripheral eurozone countries had soared by more than three percent.
In foreign exchange activity, the euro fell to $1.3110 from $1.3184 late in New York on Wednesday, when it had struck a two week high at $1.3300. Gold prices declined to $1,679.50 an ounce on the London Bullion Market from $1,693.75.
On secondary sovereign bond markets, 10-year debt issued by Spain traded at 5.026 percent, down from 5.037 percent on Wednesday, while the comparable Italian rates were 4.242 percent, down from 4.276 percent.
Asian equities traded mixed. Sydney rose 0.74 percent to hit the highest since May 2011, and Hong Kong added 0.37 percent, while Seoul slipped 0.58 percent. Shanghai and Tokyo were closed for public holidays. AFP
