STOCKS ROSE on most European markets yesterday as investors said goodbye and “probably good riddance” to 2011.

Investors saw $3.6 trillion (€2.78 trillion) wiped off the value of world stock markets this year.

The uncertainty surrounding the euro, one of the main culprits for 2011’s losses, is likely to persist in the early weeks of the year at least. “As traders say goodbye and probably good riddance to 2011, a year that saw most of the European and Asian indices recording double-digit losses, traders may not be so welcoming to 2012 either,” Jonathan Sudaria, a trader at London Capital Group, wrote in an email yesterday.

DUBLIN

In Dublin, the Iseq index of Irish shares rose almost 2 per cent to end the day – and the year – at 2,901.82. The market was open for just half a day and trade was quiet.

Drug developer Elan was the focus of some attention on the back of speculation that US giant Johnson Johnson may be interested in acquiring the company.

The stock rose 2.63 per cent to close at €10.72. About 225,000 of its shares were traded in Dublin yesterday. Elan is also listed in New York.

The market’s biggest stock, international building materials group CRH, which accounts for about 30 per cent of the overall index, had a good day. It rose 3.57 per cent to €15.36. Just over one million of its shares changed hands in Dublin yesterday.

In the same industry, Kingspan also enjoyed a good run, gaining 3.21 per cent to €6.36. However, volumes in the stock were light, with just 35,000 units sold.

LONDON

Britain’s top share index enjoyed a late rally yesterday. The FTSE 100 closed the truncated last trading session of 2011 up 5.51 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,572.28, after a year in which uncertainty has dominated investors’ minds as governments resort to austerity measures to cull mounting debt piles.

Man Group and Old Mutual declined 1.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively, for the biggest losses on the benchmark gauge. J Sainsbury climbed 2.3 per cent.

Analysts were gloomy about the outlook for 2012. “Europe is going to face a deep recession in the first half of next year,” said Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered.

“It’s in terrible shape. Fundamentals are not good, policy stance is terrible and confidence has been shot to pieces.”

Volumes on the FTSE 100 this week were more than 50 per cent below this year’s average.

EUROPE

European stocks climbed to a two- month high, paring the Stoxx Europe 600 index’s first annual decline in three years, as German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble ruled out a euro area break-up.

Banco Comercial Português added 3.8 per cent on a report that Chinese lenders may be interested in investing in Portugal’s second-biggest publicly traded bank by market value.

Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation jumped 8.3 per cent after agreeing to sell a stake in a Serbian phone company. Healthcare stocks, this year’s best-performing industry group, advanced as Elan rose 2.63 per cent.

The Stoxx 600 gained 0.9 per cent to 244.54 at the close of trading, the highest level since October 28th. The gauge has still retreated 11 per cent this year, the first decline since 2008’s 46 per cent plunge, as the euro region’s sovereign debt crisis spread from Greece to Italy and Spain, driving yields on government debt to records.

“We’ve had so much difficulty and a bad 2011,” said Pierre Mouton, a fund manager who helps oversee $7.5 billion at Notz Stucki Cie in Geneva.

“There still are a lot of people on the defensive. If the first two to three weeks of January are good, a lot of people who aren’t too invested will start buying stocks. I’m relatively optimistic.”

Post-Christmas trading has been slow, with daily volume on the Stoxx 600 this week dipping to 32 per cent of this year’s average.

US

For the US stock market, 2011 was a long wild ride to nowhere. The broad SP 500 endured huge daily swings but a year of drama left the index almost where it started. It lost a mere 0.003 per cent, closest to unchanged since 1947, according to SP.

Investors took out their ire on the financials, which were the weakest group this year, falling more than 18 per cent. Concerns about exposure to Europe and the threat of a renewed financial crisis hurt those shares.

Bank of America was the Dow’s worst performer, tumbling 58.3 per cent this year, and it was also one of the SP 500’s biggest losers. JPMorgan Chase slumped 21.6 per cent in 2011.

Cabot Oil Gas was the only SP component to double its stock price in 2011 – rising 100.5 per cent – followed by another energy name, El Paso, which rose 93.1 per cent.

McDonald’s advanced 31 per cent this year, making it the Dow’s biggest gainer. – (Additional reporting: Bloomberg, Reuters)