European Stocks Pare Annual Gains With Worst December Since 2002

  • DAX gains for fourth year, while U.K., Spain market fall
  • Strategists see more gains for 2016, helped by ECB stimulus
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With another day of declines, European stocks completed their worst December since 2002, trimming a fourth annual advance.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4 percent in the last trading day of the year, taking its monthly drop to 5 percent and paring the 2015 gain to 6.9 percent. The volume of shares changing hands was more than two-thirds lower than the 30-day average on Thursday, with markets including Germany, Switzerland and Italy closed, while the U.K., France and the Netherlands shut early.