Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade

LONDON — Global stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday, boosted by a tech rally on Wall Street, but gains remained modest in thin Christmas Eve trade.

Overnight, US equities shook off early weakness to push higher as investors waited to see if a so-called Santa Claus rally would materialise.

"The US stock market closed with a mixed bag of results yesterday, but the gift under the tree was a tech-driven rally that lit up the broader market," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Analysts said it could help boost semiconductor-related shares, including in Tokyo, although the key Nikkei index closed down 0.3 per cent.

Several exchanges, including Hong Kong, London and Paris, closed early on Tuesday due to the holidays.

Paris's CAC 40 closed higher while Frankfurt was closed all day.

London also closed in the green, despite a week clouded by lacklustre economic data that is "stoking concerns about the UK's slowing momentum heading into the new year," Britzman said.

Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets closed up over one per cent, as China announced fresh fiscal measures to boost its ailing economy.

On Tuesday, state media reported that China will raise its deficit in order to boost spending next year, as the world's second-largest economy battles sluggish domestic consumption, a property crisis and soaring government debt.

In company news, Honda shares closed more than 12 per cent higher after the Japanese auto giant announced a buyback of up to 1.1 trillion yen ($7 billion), as it enters merger talks with struggling rival Nissan.

The talks on collaboration between Honda and Nissan would create the world's third-largest automaker, expanding development of EVs and self-driving tech.

Honda's CEO insisted it was not a bailout for Nissan, which announced thousands of job cuts last month and reported a 93 per cent plunge in first-half net profit.