European shares settled at the open in thin trade during the Christmas

European shares settled at the open on Friday in light of weak trading during the Christmas holidays, after global stocks rose recently on indications that the mutated Omicron may not derail the recovery of the global economy.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was stable by 0930 GMT, after rising nearly 1 percent in the previous session.

The British FTSE index rose 0.1 percent, while the French CAC 40 index settled.

Stock markets in several countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States, are closed on Friday due to the Christmas holiday, while trading sessions will be shorter than usual in London and France.

Most of the Asian markets rose, and the US Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed at a record high in the evening due to positive economic data after some studies showed that the odds of hospitalization are lower when infected with the Omicron mutant compared to other mutants from Corona, such as Delta.

Biotech company Lysogene jumped 10.5 percent after the company entered into a 15 million euro loan agreement with the European Investment Bank to speed up the development of its gene therapy platform.