LIVE MARKETS-Before the bell: festive trading, but M&A keeps going

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BEFORE THE BELL: FESTIVE TRADING, BUT M&A KEEPS GOING

With most of Europe's equity markets closed for the Christmas holidays and the rest operating on a half-day schedule, trading in Europe looks set for a typical festive tone on Wednesday. The few futures contracts still active point to no major moves.

Contracts on the UK's FTSE 100 .FTSE were down 0.1%, while Spain's IBEX .IBEX futures also edged lower.

Global market action was concentrated in precious metals, with both gold and silver hitting new highs as a strong year for stocks and other assets winds down. Europe's STOXX 600 .STOXX has gained more than 15% this year.

London will begin its closing process at 1230 GMT. Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, and Madrid also observe a half-day session, while Milan, Oslo, Frankfurt, Zurich, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, and Warsaw remain closed.

"Trading volumes are thin - around 30–35% below the past month's average - yet... yet the year keeps on giving," writes Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote, adding that seasonal patterns pointed to further gains in the days ahead.

"The so-called Santa Rally - the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year - could deliver another 1.5% gains – if history is any guidance."

Broker activity and corporate news were light, though dealmakers stayed busy amid a red-hot M&A market this year.

No surprise then to see BP BP.L announce first thing this morning that it clinched a deal to sell 65% of Castrol to investment firm Stonepeak for about $6 billion.

Sanofi SASY.PA agreed to buy Dynavax DVAX.O for $2.2 billion in a deal expected to close in Q1 2026.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 notched a closing record. Futures on that index eased 0.1%

(Danilo Masoni)