Europe midday: Stocks rise as oil prices steady, but volumes thin

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 1%, Germany’s DAX was 1.4% higher and France’s CAC 40 was up 1.3%.

“With many investors still away till the New Year, volumes will remain low but we see more money flowing into equities as more inflows should be the theme after a lacklustre performance for European equities in 2015,” said Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 0.58% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.37%.

China’s Shanghai Composite ended up 0.86%, bouncing back from a 2.6% drop in the previous session after the People’s Bank of China signalled that it may take steps to maintain credit growth and smooth volatility in the renminbi.

In corporate news, Deutsche Bank shares rose after it agreed to sell its stake in Chinese lender Hua Xia for up to €3.7bn in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet.

Adidas was also in the black after the sports retailer’s finance chief, Robin Stalker, denied claims that it was facing pressure from activist shareholders to offload more assets.

Budget airline Ryanair was higher after saying it delivered 70% of all traffic growth at Cork, Dublin, Knock and Shannon airports this year, which saw record growth for Irish tourism.

In commodity markets, oil prices stabilised after heavy falls on Monday, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.4% at $36.96 and Brent crude 0.5% higher at $36.78.

There are no major Eurozone data releases due, but in the US, the goods trade balance is at 1330 GMT, while S&P/Case-Shiller house prices are at 1400 GMT and consumer confidence is at 1500 GMT.