Stocks start 2017 with gains, but many markets stay shut

LONDON — Global stocks rose on the first day of 2017, though trading volumes were thin as many major markets observed New Year’s holidays.

KEEPING SCORE: Germany’s DAX closed 1 per cent higher at 11,598.33 and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.4 per cent to 4,882.38. Italy’s FTSE MIB gained 1.7 per cent to 19,566.53, though trading was still suspended in the shares of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the bank that is due to get a government bailout. Britain’s FTSE 100, which closed at a record high on Friday, remained closed.

UPBEAT DATA: Markets were buoyed by a report showing the manufacturing sector in the 19-country eurozone grew at the fastest rate in 68 months in December. The so-called purchasing managers’ index rose to 54.9 points from 53.7 points in November. Also helping sentiment was a report published Sunday showing that China’s manufacturing sector continued to expand in December, though at a slightly slower pace than the month before.

ANALYST TAKE: “While the eurozone seems to have ended 2016 on the up in economic terms, we are concerned that GDP growth could be increasingly hampered in 2017 by political uncertainties,” said Howard Archer, global economist at IHS Markit. Those uncertainties include Britain’s formal start to talks to leave the European Union and elections in France and the Netherlands, where far-right parties that favour leaving the euro are expected to do well.