© Archyde.com. A screen showing data from the German DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Friday. Photo: Archyde.com.
European stocks closed lower in the last trading days in a tough year that saw geopolitical tensions and recession fears as central banks raised interest rates, but London stocks outperformed their continental counterparts due to heavy exposure to commodities.
The index fell 1.3% in thin trade on Friday, as rising COVID-19 cases in China fueled concerns regarding global economic growth. European stocks have lost 12.9 percent this year, their worst performance since 2018.
The general index was affected by the indices of the industrial and banking sectors, while the index of shares of technology companies fell 1.8 percent, giving up some of the big gains achieved in the last session.
Britain’s FTSE 100 closed down 0.8% as trading hours were halved on Friday, while the German stock index posted an annual loss of 12.3%, its worst annual loss since 2018.
(Prepared by Mahmoud Abdel-Gawad for the Arabic Bulletin – Edited by Mustafa Saleh)
