European stocks unwilling to sustain rally

On Thursday European stocks faltered as investors proved unwilling to sustain a rally that’s lifted equities and pushed the FTSE 100 Index to an all-time high this week.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2% at 12.13pm in London, with trading volume less than half the 30-day average. Cyclical shares including banks, carmakers and miners, among the best performers in the final quarter of the year amid bets for stronger economic growth, fell the most. The UK’s FTSE 100 Index pared losses of as much as 0.4% and was little changed, after closing at a record yesterday.

Te VStoxx Index of euro-area equity volatility rose 2.4%, extending its longest climbing streak since November. The FTSE 100 is heading for one of the biggest annual gains among western-European markets in 2016, up 14%. Germany’s DAX Index has risen 6.6% and France’s CAC 40 Index is up 4.4%. The Stoxx 600 is still down 1.4% for the year. Strategists expect the gauge to end 2017 at 366, 1.2% higher than Wednesday’s close.

Gold may be emerging from its Trump slump as 2016 winds down. Prices rose for a third day to head for the longest run of gains since early November, the period just before the realitytelevision star seized the White House and kick-started a push for risk assets that’s hurt prices.

Asian equities rose after a post-holiday gain in US stocks and oil near a 17-month high helped bolster sentiment. Australian, Indonesian and Philippine shares climbed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.4% to 134.77 at 3.30pm in Hong Kong, ending a six-day drop that was the longest slump since September.