By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks rose Wednesday, with the
pan-European benchmark set to end higher for the year despite
declines for many of the region's key indexes.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% to 342.28, in part from gains
among French, British, Spanish, and Greek shares in the last
session of the year. The benchmark was on track for a 4.3% rise for
2014, a smaller advance than the gains of 17% and 14% notched up in
the two previous years, according to FactSet data.
Shares of Serco Group PLC topped the Stoxx 600 Wednesday by
rising 3.2%, but were still facing a roughly 68% loss for the year.
The bulk of that decline came from a drop of more than 30% in one
session in November, which came after the U.K. outsourcing company
issued a profit warning and outlined plans to raise money from
shareholders.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended Wednesday's session higher by 0.3%,
but closed 2014 down by 2.7%, hurt largely by losses among
commodity producers.
Germany's DAX 30 wrapped up 2014 on Tuesday by cementing a 2.7%
rise for the year. The blue-chip index managed to escape the same
fate of the FTSE 100 in part because it's not heavily weighted by
commodity stocks.
France's CAC 40 closed 0.6% at 4,272.75 on Wednesday, led by a
2.1% advance for lens maker Essilor International S.A. . The CAC
lost 0.5% for 2014, following two years of gains.
Other benchmarks set to finish with losses this year include
Greece's Athex Composite and Russia's Micex , down 29% and 7.1%,
respectively. Greek stocks have been rocked by political
uncertainty and concerns about the future of its bailout program,
while the Russian economy is contracting in the face of Western
sanctions and the collapse in oil prices.
The result of Greek snap elections and questions about when and
at what level oil prices will find a bottom are among the issues
facing investors heading into 2015. As well, the market will look
for an answer to whether the European Central Bank will launch
full-blown quantitative easing in a bid to aid the struggling
eurozone economy. The ECB's next meeting is on Jan. 22.
In an interview published on the last day of 2014, ECB Chief
Economist Peter Praet told German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung said
the slide in oil prices will likely keep inflation levels at
stubbornly low levels.
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