Travel and leisure, energy shares lead gains in Europe in holiday-thinned trade

Europe's main stocks index opened higher on Tuesday, with travel and leisure and energy stocks leading a broad-based market advance amid light trading volumes ahead of a Christmas break.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2% as of 0815 GMT, with many markets either shut or working on reduced hours for Christmas Eve.

Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris will have half-day trading sessions, while Frankfurt and Milan are closed, keeping trading volumes low throughout the day.


Travel and leisure regained some lost ground, with a 0.5% gain, after Monday's slide. Energy, too, was up 0.5% tracking higher oil prices.

Among individual movers, British homebuilder Vistry slumped 18% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after warning on its fiscal 2024 profit for the third time, citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions.