Markets: 28th December

28/12/09 19:39 CET

markets

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European shares finished up for a fifth straight session on Monday but trading was thin and London and Dublin were closed.

Resource-related stocks were popular thanks to buoyant commodity prices including oil and copper.

Gainers included energy industry tube supplier Tenaris, French oil and gas producer Total and steelmaker ArcelorMittal.

Among utilities E.On led the pack,followed by GDF Suez and Iberdrola.

Banking shares rose. Societe Generale, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank were all firmer.

The US dollar is holding firm against the yen and the euro.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index hit its highest close in nearly 15 months last Thursday, ahead of the Christmas break.

It is on track to gain 25 percent this year, its best annual performance since 1999.

More about: Markets, Oil market

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Greek coalition closer to agreement on bailout terms

After spending most of the day in talks with prime minister Lucas Papademos, Greece’s coalition party leaders have made some headway. They have agreed to all but one of the points negotiated with the troika of IMF and EU negotiators for the much-needed one hundred and thirty billion euro bailout…