European stocks closed lower in final trading days in a difficult year marked by geopolitical tensions and fears of recession establishment of central banks interest rate hikes, but London equities outperformed their continental counterparts due to increased exposure to commodities.
The STOXX 600 index fell 1.3%, on weak trading in Friday’s session, as rising ‘Covid-19’ cases in China fueled concerns about global economic growth. The general index of European stocks lost 12.9% this year, the worst performance since 2018.
The broad index was impacted by industrial and banking sector indices, while the technology stock index fell 1.8%, giving up some of the big gains it made in the last session, according to Reuters.
Britain’s FTSE 100 closed 0.8% lower as trading hours were halved on Friday, while the German stock index posted a 12.3% annual loss, its worst annual loss since 2018.
