EUROPE MARKETS: European Stocks Slip, But Still Higher For The Holiday-shortened Week

By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

PostNL soars amid takeover talk

European stocks mostly edged lower Thursday, but held onto gains for the holiday-shortened week.

The Stoxx Europe 600 dipped by less than 0.1% to 366.28, putting the index on pace for a weekly advance of 1.4%.

PostNL N.V. (PNLYY) helped limit the drop, as shares in the Dutch postal operator jumped 13% to 3.70 euros ($4.05), for the biggest gain among the index's components.

PostNL may see a bid of EUR5 per share from Royal Mail PLC (RMG.LN) , said a note on Thursday from ING analysts that cited a Mergermarket article. The Dutch company played down the buyout talk.

"We do not recognize these rumors and see no reason to react on them," said a PostNL spokesman, Dick Kors, in an email to MarketWatch.

On Wednesday, the Stoxx Europe 600 finished at its highest level in more than two weeks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-leap-as-investors-go-holiday-bargain-hunting-2015-12-23), as investors picked up battered shares of commodity producers.

Trading volume had been expected to be light on Thursday, with exchanges set to close early for Christmas Eve. Trading in the U.K. stopped at 12:30 p.m. London time (7:30 a.m. Eastern Time), and it ended in France at 2 p.m. Central European Time (8 a.m. Eastern Time).

Germany's exchange and some other European markets were shuttered for the whole day. European stock trading will shut down completely for Christmas on Friday.

Read: When are European markets closed for Christmas and New Year's? (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-are-european-markets-closed-for-christmas-and-new-years-2015-12-23)

Among the national indexes on Thursday, France's CAC 40 closed 0.2% lower at 4,663.18, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to end at 6,254.64. Germany's DAX 30 showed no action as Frankfurt trading was suspended for Christmas Eve.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 24, 2015 08:31 ET (13:31 GMT)

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