European stocks experienced slight increases during the shortened trading session on Tuesday, with many investors opting to remain cautious ahead of the Christmas holidays. Several key markets in the region were closed in observance of Christmas Eve.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 concluded the day with a rise of 0.21%. In the U.K., the FTSE 100 advanced by 0.42%, while France's CAC 40 saw a subtle increase of 0.14%. Markets in Germany and Switzerland, however, did not operate due to the Christmas Eve holiday.
Elsewhere in Europe, markets in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain showed positive results. Conversely, stock exchanges in Russia and Türkiye finished the session weaker.
Trading markets across Sweden, Poland, Norway, Iceland, Greece, Finland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, and Austria remained closed.
Looking ahead, markets in the U.K., Germany, Spain, France, and Switzerland will remain shut on Wednesday and Thursday in observance of the Christmas holidays.
On the U.K. market front, Airtel Africa soared nearly 4%. Other notable gains were seen from Pershing Square Holdings, Anglo American Plc, Vodafone Group, Melrose Industries, Croda International, Smith (DS), ICG, Spirax Group, Whitbread, Auto Trader Group, Land Securities, Centrica, Diploma, Sainsbury (J), Next, and Standard Chartered, with increases ranging from 1% to 2.3%.
In contrast, Persimmon fell 2.39%, while Entain dropped 1.25%. Endeavour Mining, Ashtead Group, BT Group, and Barratt Developments closed with modest declines.
A significant downturn was observed for Vistry Group, which plunged 16% after issuing its third profit warning of the year, attributing it to delays in anticipated end-of-year transactions and completions.
In France, STMicroElectronics enjoyed a gain of approximately 2.3%, and shares of Eurofins Scientific, Teleperformance, Edenred, Renault, Unibail-Rodamco, Dassault Systemes, Carrefour, and Vivendi increased between 1% and 2%.
