By Barbara Kollmeyer
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- European stock markets opened mostly higher on Thursday, but volatility is likely to be a theme again given thin volumes ahead of the Christmas holiday. Oil stocks such as BP PLC (UK:BP. 475.15, +5.15, +1.10%) (BP 43.61, +0.07, +0.16%) , up 0.8%, helped chart a path higher for Europe. The Stoxx Europe 600 index (ST:STOXX600 281.57, +0.12, +0.04%) rose 0.1% to 281.84, while the France CAC 40 index (FR:PX1 3,910, -9.85, -0.25%) rose 0.02% to 3,920.83. The German DAX 30 index (DX:DAX 7,074, +5.70, +0.08%) rose 0.2% to 7,078.51. The FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,989, +5.05, +0.08%) rose 0.2% to 5,994.73. Shares of Allied Irish Banks PLC (IE:AIB 0.35, -0.05, -11.50%) (AIB 1.09, -0.06, -5.22%) are likely to be in focus amid media reports that the government will on Thursday announce a $5 billion capital injection into the troubled bank. |
