UK Market Advances, Smith & Nephew Surges

(RTTNews) - The UK market rose in thin trade on Wednesday, ahead of the Christmas holiday. Markets in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are closed on Christmas eve.

On the economic front, survey figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed that Dutch producers' confidence improved for the second straight month in December to reach its highest level in three-and-a-half years, as manufacturers were more positive regarding their order position.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks was losing 0.15 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was unchanged.

The FTSE 100 index rose 0.16 percent.

Smith & Nephew climbed 7.4 percent, responding to takeover speculation from US-based Stryker Corp.

Tullow Oil and BP were gaining 2.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, Indivior, the spun off pharmaceuticals business of Reckitt Benckiser, fell 3.5 percent.

The Asian stocks rose broadly after big revisions to U.S. third-quarter GDP growth powered U.S stocks to a record high overnight. The Dow rose 0.4 percent to close above 18,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent to set a fresh record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.3 percent.

The U.S. futures point to a higher open to the shortened session on Wall Street.

Crude for February delivery lost $0.83 to $56.29 per barrel, while gold slid $0.7 to $1177.3 a troy ounce.