European markets closed higher
1 min read
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.6%, with oil and gas stocks climbing 3.1% to lead gains after OPEC+ members agreed on Thursday to increase production by 500,000 barrels per day beginning in January. Retail stocks declined by 0.5%.
European stocks received a mixed handover from Asia-Pacific after the Pentagon added more Chinese firms to a blacklist of alleged Chinese military companies.
Sentiment took a hit Thursday after a Wall Street Journal report said that supply chain challenges had caused Pfizer to slash its coronavirus vaccine rollout estimates for 2020. Still, Pfizer and BioNtech are on track to roll out 1.3 billion vaccines in 2021 and the 50 million dose shortfall this year will be covered as production ramps up, the report said.
Meanwhile, Moderna said Thursday that it expects to supply up to 125 million doses of its experimental vaccine around the world in the first quarter of 2021.
On Wall Street, stocks rose slightly after a key November jobs report showed the U.S. economy added 245,000 jobs in November, well below a Dow Jones consensus estimate of 440,000. The unemployment rate, however, matched expectations by falling to 6.7% from 6.9%.