London and Paris stock advance

British and French stock markets rose Thursday ahead of their early closure for the New Year holiday, as investor confidence grew over economic recovery heading into 2010, analysts said. In morning deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index added 0.30 per cent to 5,414.17 points and in Paris the CAC 40 index increased 0.29 per cent to 3,947.32 points. Frankfurt closed for festivities the previous day. Trading volumes were thin amid the year-end holiday season. London will shut for the holiday weekend at 1230 GMT, shortly followed by Paris at 1300 GMT. 'Looks set to be a good finish to the year,' ETX Capital senior trader Manoj Ladwa told the AFP. 'I expect more of the same in the first quarter of 2010. Although volumes are low, recent rise in (the) market has been broad, indicating wide interest for equities.' All three main European markets have won more than a fifth in value this year, boosted by signs of global economic recovery after a vicious downturn that was rooted in the global financial crisis. The eurozone, Japan and the United States all pulled out of recession this year — but Britain has yet to escape. 'Investors can look back on the last twelve months with a sigh of relief,' said UBS analyst Geoffrey Yu. 'The global financial system stabilized, helping avert a depression, as most asset classes began to feel the effects of extraordinary and coordinated policy intervention by the second quarter. 'Risks remain in 2010, but the world economy is back from the brink,' he added. Markets worldwide had slumped in early 2009 on fears about governments' abilities to overcome a deep global recession. But they were boosted as many of the world's central banks and governments launched radical measures to boost lending, stabilise the troubled banking sector and slash interest rates to historically low levels. On Wednesday, Germany's DAX 30 index of leading shares sank 0.90 per cent to finish at 5, 957.43 points on Frankfurt's final trading day of 2009. However, the DAX gained almost 24 per cent this year, boosted by the nation's emergence from a deep recession in the second quarter of 2009. Frankfurt, London and Paris will remain shut on Friday and will reopen for business on Monday, January 4. Sentiment was hit this week after Tokyo finished in the red on its final trading day of the year on Wednesday. The market also reopens on January 4. However, Wall Street stocks edged higher overnight after a better-than-expected report on US manufacturing activity, indicating that a recovery from recession was on track. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03 per cent to 10,548.51, a day after the blue-chip index fell for the first time in seven sessions that saw new 2009 highs. The New York market swung back from negative territory partly due to a report showing manufacturing activity in the Chicago area accelerated for the third straight month in December, analysts said. US financial markets are closed Friday for the New Year holiday and will reopen on Monday.