The actions are treading water on Christmas eve

PARIS, December 24 (Reuters) – The European stock markets opened on Friday Christmas Eve evolve without much change at the start of the session in a context of appeasement, at least for the moment, of fears on the health and economic front. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.07% to 7.101.37 points around 08:40 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 takes 0.11%. The EuroStoxx 50 index is down 0.04%, the FTSEurofirst 300 down 0.01% and the Stoxx 600 down 0.01%. A number of market participants having gone on leave and while the Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid and New York stock exchanges in particular are closed, the volume of trade should remain very thin. The London and Euronext markets will close early at 12:30 GMT and 13:05 GMT respectively. The CAC 40 and the Stoxx 600 are moving towards a gain of more than 2% over the week marked by a decline in fears about the dangerousness of the Omicron variant and its consequences on the world economy after the publication of encouraging studies. Most of the European sector indices are moving in the green with a slightly more marked progression for transport and leisure, of which the Stoxx index is up 0.36%. (Laetitia Volga, edited by Blandine Hénault)