Europe close: Stoxx ends lower as US GDP boost runs out of steam

(Sharecast News) - European shares ended a shortened Christmas eve trading session flat after touching fresh highs on Tuesday with BP in focus after the oil giant confirmed the $10bn sale of a 65% stake in its Castrol lubricants business. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 closed 0.02% higher at 588.62 amid thin volumes even after Tuesday's surprise jump in third-quarter US GDP to 4.3% against the 3.3% expected by analysts.

"That's the fastest pace in two years, driven by AI investment but also by strong corporate profits - up 4.4% quarter on quarter - and very strong consumer spending, with sales up 4.6% QoQ," said Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"Naturally, price pressures also flared up, with PCE prices rising to 2.8% on the quarter from 2.1% previously."

"The good news is that expectations were for price pressures to rise slightly more - to 2.9% - keeping the Federal Reserve (Fed) hawks at bay. Meanwhile, weaker industrial production and softer consumer confidence helped balance out the euphoric growth and uncomfortably high inflation figures."

In equity news, shares in BP were slightly lower as the oil giant confirmed the sale of a majority stake in its Castrol lubricants division to US infrastructure group Stonepeak in a deal that values the business at about $10bn including debt.

Sanofi stock was also down after the French firm said it has agreed to buy US hepatitis vaccine maker Dynavax in a $2.2bn deal.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com