NEW YORK: European stocks and Wall Street traded nearly flat Friday in a quiet session before Christmas, with banks topping the agenda after huge US fines and a bailout in Italy.
London closed marginally higher in a half-day session, as upwardly revised data showed the British economy grew 0.6 percent in the third quarter despite Brexit jitters. In the eurozone, Frankfurt and Paris hovered around either side of unchanged but Milan jumped, closing over one percent higher, on relief over a state rescue of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) bank. US stocks finished modestly higher, with most pharma stocks rising. Still, the Dow came up short of 20,000 points, its latest failed push towards the landmark. Analysts suspect the post-election rally may have run its course after Republican Donald Trump’s election to president boosted hopes of a pro-growth agenda from Washington. “The market still believes Trump’s agenda will have positive effects, but it needs something concrete to go even further,” said Gregori Volokhine, president of Meeschaert Capital Markets. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse agreed to pay a total of almost $12.5 billion to settle disputes over the sale of mortgage-backed securities during the global financial crisis. Germany’s biggest lender reached a $7.2-billion deal to settle a case with the US Department of Justice over its role in the subprime mortgage crisis. Credit Suisse agreed to pay nearly $5.3 billion. US-traded shares of Deutsche Bank rose 0.5 percent, while Credit Suisse dipped 0.5 percent. Barclays lost 0.9 percent after the DoJ announced Thursday that it was suing Barclays, accusing the British bank of massive fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities which contributed to the 2008 crisis.—APP
