By Daniel Shvartsman
Investing.com - European stock markets - or at least the ones open for trading - closed lower on Friday to finish the year.
In a shortened day of trading, the CAC 40 traded .28% lower while the FTSE 100 traded down .32%. The AEX was down .29%.
Most other major European markets were closed in observance of New Year's Day tomorrow,.
In corporate news, Hunter Douglas NV (AS:HUDN) shares rose 70% on the heels of an announcement that 3G Capital would buy the windows coverings maker for €175/share. 888 Holdings (LON:888) updated on its plans to acquire William Hill's non U.S. business, saying it expects to publish its prospectus for the deal in Q2 2022, and hold a shareholder vote and close the merger afterwards but also in Q2. Shares finished 1.7% lower.
Renault SA (PA:RENA) was the leading winner on the CAC 40, up 1.5% for the day, while Eurofins Scientific SE (PA:EUFI) was the leading loser, down 2.1%.
In the U.K., Melrose Industries finished up 2.3% while Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) closed up 1.7%. Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF) was the worst performer on the day, down 3.15%.
On the commodities front, Crude Oil WTI Futures and Brent Oil Futures were down 1% and .8% respectively entering U.S. trading hours, while Gold Futures were up .7%. Even that leaves oil on track for its best year since at least 2016, and gold with its worst in the last six.
Bitcoin traded 1.2% higher and Ethereum 1.9% higher, leaving the cryptocurrencies poised for a strong finish to a big year.
For the year, European indices had impressive performances, with the top indices finishing as follows for 2021:
- CAC 40 - +28.9%
- AEX - 27.8%
- FTSE MIB - 23%
- Euro Stoxx 50 - 21.2%
- SMI - 20.3%
- DAX - 15.8%
- MOEX - 15.15%
- FTSE 100 - 14.2%
- IBEX 35 - 7.9%
(Samuel Indyk contributed to this article).