European Shares Edge Higher Ahead Of Christmas Break

(RTTNews) - European stocks edged higher in cautious trade on Tuesday ahead of Christmas break. The German DAX is not trading today while the FTSE 100 and CAC 40 will close early for Christmas Eve.

Markets in the U.K., Germany, Spain and France will remain shut on Wednesday and Thursday for the Christmas holiday.

The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.4 percent at 503.94 after closing 0.1 percent higher on Monday. France's CAC 40 gained 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent.

China-related LVMH, Kering and Hermes International were seeing modest gains in Paris after China's finance ministry said that it will increase public spending in 2025 with a greater focus on boosting consumption to support the economy.

Alstom SA shares were up about 1 percent. The company announced that it has received two new orders from two undisclosed European customers, worth a total of around 760 million euros, during the month of December.

Energy stocks tracked oil prices higher, with BP Plc rising half a percent and peer Shell gaining 0.8 percent in London.

Vistry Group slumped over 17 percent as the housebuilder issued its third profit warning of the year, citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions.

AstraZeneca edged up slightly. Following feedback from the European Medicines Agency, the British pharma company and Japan's Daiichi Sankyo have decided to voluntarily withdraw the marketing authorization application in the European Union for advanced lung-cancer treatment Dato-DXd.