by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – European stock markets ended higher on Tuesday for the last session of 2024, concluding a year which will have been positive for most indices in the world, notably against a backdrop of enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) and lower rates from major central banks.

For today’s session in Paris, the CAC 40 ended with a gain of 0.92%, to 7,380.74 points. The British Footsie advanced 0.64%.

The EuroStoxx 50 index increased by 0.55%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.40% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.42%.

The stock exchanges in Frankfurt, Zurich and Milan remained closed on Tuesday for New Year’s Eve.

At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones is expected to rise by 0.17%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.21% and the Nasdaq by 0.18%. The indices should therefore continue their upward trend on signs of resilience in the American economy, hopes of lower borrowing costs and the boost linked to AI.

The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq are near all-time highs and on track to finish in the green for a second straight year. A nearly 100 basis point cut in 2024 policy rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a boom in tech stocks in anticipation of AI-driven boosts to corporate profits have fueled the 2024 stock rally.

Chinese stocks, for their part, recorded their first gain since 2020, thanks in particular to the various support measures announced by Beijing in the second half of the year.

Over the whole year, the CAC 40 stood out from the major world markets by finishing in the red (-2.15%), the index being weighed down by luxury and political uncertainties in France.

The FTSE in London recorded an annual gain of 5.69%, the fourth consecutive year in the green.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 5.86% this year, while the Dax in Frankfurt, with a jump of almost 19%, outperformed other places in Europe.

VALUES IN EUROPE

BP (+1.61%), Shell (+1.39%) and TotalEnergies (+1.27%) ended on a positive note, in the wake of the rise in oil prices. A statistic published Tuesday shows that manufacturing activity in China, a major consumer of crude oil, increased for a third consecutive month in December.

CHANGES

The dollar, which has at this stage gained more than 6% since the start of the year, close to a two-year high, nibbled another 0.04% on Tuesday against a basket of reference currencies.

The euro fell by 0.15%, to 1.0391 dollars, and should show a drop of more than 5% this year against the greenback.

The British pound is trading at $1.2530 (-0.17%), heading for a loss of around 1% for this year.

RATE

The yield on ten-year US Treasury bonds fell by 2.2 basis points, to 4.5227%, after having gained nearly 70 basis points since the start of the year.

OIL

The oil market is volatile on Tuesday and is heading towards a decline for the whole year due to concerns about demand in the main crude consuming countries.

Brent lost 0.05% to $74.92 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) lost 0.06% to $70.95 after rising at the start of the day.

(Writing by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)

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