European stocks closed flat in shortened trading on Thursday. Oil prices remained choppy while other European energy stocks stayed up. Statoil shares closed around 5.2 percent higher after a judge ruled that the Norwegian company did not breach a contract it had with New York-listed Diamond Offshore Drilling.

The pan-European STOXX 600 ended the day 0.05 percent lower. The German DAX and a number of other markets were closed today, with other bourses opened for a shortened trading day.

WTI and Brent futures traded slightly higher in mid-afternoon trade on Thursday, giving back some this week’s gains that came on the back of a report from the Energy Information Administration that showed U.S. crude stocks had surprisingly fallen.

Mining stocks were also supported by news out of China that suggested that the country, which is a significant consumer of commodities, would implement further monetary and fiscal easing measures.

Asian Stocks Up Slightly

Most Asian stock markets are closed on Friday for the Christmas Day holiday. Among the markets that are open, Japan, China and Taiwan are up with modest gains in thin trading. The Japanese market was higher overnight in thin Christmas trading, after slipping briefly into negative territory earlier. Many traders are away from the market for the Christmas holidays and a stronger yen weighed on exporters’ stocks.

In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is adding 73.4 points or 0.39 percent to 18,863.05, after falling to a low of 18,756.17 earlier.

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