Immoeast tops Stoxx 600 performers, Volkswagen at bottom of the pile By Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares held broadly steady Thursday in a shortened final trading session of 2009 as the region prepared to wrap up its best trading year in a decade. The FTSE Eurofirst 100 slipped 0.04% to 3,336.75, in thin trading, with gains for banking and construction stocks offset by declines in the pharmaceuticals and telecoms sectors. Among the biggest movers, Lloyds Banking Group (UK:LLOY 50.25, +0.47, +0.94%) (LYG 3.29, +0.04, +1.23%) rose 1% in London, while BT Group (UK:BT.A 135.20, -2.00, -1.46%) fell 1.2% and Sanofi-Aventis (FR:SAN 54.80, -0.44, -0.80%) slipped 0.9%. Mining stocks also gained, with Antofagasta (UK:ANTO 992.00, +17.50, +1.80%) rising 1.7%. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index (ST:SXXP 253.16, -0.93, -0.37%) wasn't calculated Thursday as some markets, including Germany and Italy, remained closed and others are having a shortened trading session. However 2009 was the index's strongest year since 1999 as it posted a 27.6% rise following the sharp drop in 2008. In 1999 the index rose around 36%. Austrian property group Immoeast (DE:I4M 3.75, -0.08, -2.09%) was the biggest gainer in the Stoxx 600 for the year, rising around 737%, while the common shares of German car maker Volkswagen (DE:VOW 76.58, -1.07, -1.38%) were the worst performer, shedding 69% of their value since the end of 2008. Among regional markets, the French CAC 40 index (FR:PX1 3,942, +6.22, +0.16%) rose 0.1% to 3,939.98 Thursday. Over the year, the main French index has risen 22.4%, with oil and gas services group Technip (FR:TEC 49.49, +0.37, +0.74%) posting the biggest gain of 127% over that period. The worst performer was GDF Suez (FR:GSZ 30.00, -0.05, -0.15%) , which declined 15.1% over the year. In total, just four stocks in the CAC 40 declined during the year. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,401, +3.28, +0.06%) on Thursday rose 0.1% to 5,400.82. Since the start of 2009 the index has gained 21.8%, with the mining sector showing the strongest rise. The year's biggest individual gainer on the index was Kazakhyms (UK:KAZ 1,321, +6.00, +0.46%) , with a 474% rise in its share price. Royal Bank of Scotland was the worst performer, dropping 40.9% over the course of the year after the bank needed a further bailout from taxpayers that will take the government's stake to around 84%. See London Markets for more. In total, 17 of the FTSE 100 component stocks declined over the course of 2009. The German market was closed Thursday, but at Wednesday's close the DAX 30 index was up nearly 24% for the year, with Infineon Technologies (DE:IFX 3.88, -0.01, -0.13%) surging 353% over the period, while Commerzbank (DE:CBK 5.90, -0.03, -0.42%) brought up the rear with an 11.4% decline.

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