European stock markets end year with gains

European top stock markets ended 2024 Tuesday with solid gains, as all eyes turn to the new year and the impact that the policies of US president-elect Donald Trump will have on the global economy.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed up 0.6% and the Paris CAC 40 rallied 0.9% in a shortened trading day. 

Over 2024, London gained nearly 6% as falling global inflation triggered interest-rate cuts from major central banks.

That pushed global stock markets to record-high levels this year, as did a tech boom on rapid growth for the artificial intelligence sector.

Paris fell 2.2% over the year, with the index hit late in the year by political turmoil in France, while China's economic slowdown impacted the luxury sector.

Frankfurt, whose last trading day was Monday, surged nearly 19% over the year despite Europe's biggest economy Germany enduring a tough time.

Traders closed out the year "amid uncertainty over monetary policy and the economic outlook under a Trump presidency", Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted Tuesday.

Asian stock markets ended the year mainly in the red after worries about 2025 and profit-taking turned Wall Street's usual holiday period "Santa Claus rally" into a mini-rout.

The three main US indices all slumped around one percent on Monday, with the tech sector extending Friday's losses.

Volumes were thin but brokers said investors were locking in gains after a bumper 2024, particularly for the "Magnificent Seven" troop of US tech giants.

Concerns about the slow pace of US interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and uncertainty about Trump's tariff plans soured the mood.

"In Asia, notably China, tariffs may appear to be a manageable obstacle if they were the only concern," said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

"However, China's economic difficulties go well beyond simple trade conflicts. The nation is also contending with serious domestic consumption challenges and self-induced setbacks in its technology sector," Innes added.

China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for manufacturing was 50.1 in December, signalling a third consecutive month of expansion, official data showed on Tuesday.

President Xi Jinping said China would put in place "more proactive" macroeconomic policies next year, according to state media, with economists warning that more direct fiscal stimulus aimed at shoring up domestic consumption was needed.

The yuan on Tuesday reached the lowest level versus the dollar since October 2023.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index, which closed out the year Monday, gained almost 20 percent in 2024, finally surpassing the high seen before Japan's asset bubble burst in the 1990s.