By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch)--European stocks rose Wednesday, with the
pan-European benchmark ending higher for a third straight year
despite declines for many of the region's key indexes.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.5% to close at 342.54, in part from
gains among French, British, Spanish, and Greek shares in the last
session of the year. The benchmark ended 4.4% higher 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 posted one of the biggest gains in 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% at
6,566.09, 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% higher 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 finishing 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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