Stocks on December 19

On Thursday, stocks were mixed in Europe. Investors tried to digest the economic data as well as interest rate decisions from central banks.

Moreover, the news that U.S. Congress voted to impeach President Donald Trump was not enough as markets showed a minimal reaction.

On December 19, the Pan-European Stoxx 600 was mostly flat during afternoon trade. The autos fell by 0.7% meanwhile oil and gas stocks gained 0.7%.

The German DAX index fell by 49.40 points or 0.37% to 13172.76. Another major stock index French CAC 40, dropped 4.07 points or 0.07% to 5955.25. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 10.86 points or 0.14% to 7552.71.

Stocks and Central Bank

Another decision that affected the stocks came from Japan. The Bank of Japan decided not to change the monetary policy. According to this statement, Japan’s economy is likely to continue growing despite the problems connected with overseas economies.

Nevertheless, economic problems abroad, as well as domestic demand, will affect the economy.

The Nikkei 225 fell by 0.29% to close at 23,864.85 as shares of FamiltyMart declined by more than 2%. In the meantime, the Topix index dropped 0.13% to end its trading day at 1,736.11.

On Thursday, mainland Chinese stocks recovered from an earlier slip. The Shanghai composite was mostly unchanged at 3,017.07. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen composite added 0.21% to around 1,713.03.

The Shenzhen component was mostly flat at 10,296.29.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell by more than 0.4% during its final hour of trading. The shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange declined by more than 1%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index closed slightly higher at 2,196.56. Shares of chipmaker SK Hynix rose 0.65%.

In the Asia Pacific region, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dropped 0.27% to close at 6,833.10.