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European markets traded in negative territory on Monday in what will be the last full trading session of the year.

General Europe Stoxx 600 the index was about 0.5% lower at 1:32 p.m. London time, with most sectors in negative territory.

Technology, industrials and media stocks led losses, while oil and gas stocks advanced.

Trading in Europe is expected to be subdued on Monday as markets prepare for the New Year holidays. Exchanges in the region are scheduled to either close early or close completely on Tuesday until January 2.

European stocks look set to end the year with moderate growth. The Stoxx 600 is up about 5.5% this year – but that’s a long way from the US S&P 500 an index that increased by about 25% during 2024.

US markets opened lower Monday, weak trading expected.

night in asia the shares were mixed as investors tracked political turmoil in South Korea as well as industrial data outside the country. Japan also released economic data earlier in the week that showed the contraction in factory activity slowed this month.

Shares of Korean airlines fell on Monday after Jeju Air plane crash which killed 179 people the day before and sent Jeju Air’s share price to an all-time low.

Meanwhile, the company’s shares are listed in New York Boeing — whose 737-800 series plane crashed — were down about 3.5% in premarket trade on Monday. South Korean authorities are gathering conduct an investigation into the crash to determine its exact cause, and officials plan to inspect all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by domestic carriers as part of the investigation.

Shares of a French competitor airbus were 0.6% lower at 1:13 p.m. London time, while Dassault Aviation Company — the French maker of military and business jets — climbed to the top of the Stoxx 600 after its shares rose 1.5%.

Shares of European airlines were mixed, with Lufthansa the stock rose 0.7%, making it one of the Stoxx 600’s top performers in afternoon trade. Owned by British Airways IAGMeanwhile, little has changed as a budget airline EasyJet was 0.4% lower.

At the bottom of the Stoxx 600 on Monday morning was a British online grocery store Akada. After that, the company’s shares in London fell by 3.6%. reports last week many Christmas supplies were missing essential items.

Ocado said in an emailed statement that a small number of seasonal orders had not been delivered as expected and apologized to those affected.

In other European countries, quick assessment Spain’s annual EU-adjusted inflation rate rose to 2.8% in December from 2.4% in November, Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) said on Monday.

This figure was higher than analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters poll of 2.6%.

Core inflation in Spain — excluding fresh food and energy prices — rose 2.6% year-on-year, the INE estimate showed.

The update came after a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, Robert Holtzmann This is reported by the Austrian newspaper Kurier over the weekend that the institution could slow its rate-cutting campaign thanks to sticky inflation.

“I don’t see interest rates going up at this point,” he said. “However, it may take longer before the next rate cut.”

His comments came as Italian lawmakers adopted the government budget for 2025which aims to bring the country’s budget deficit closer to 3% to comply with EU regulations.

In an interview published on Saturday, newly appointed French Finance Minister Eric Lombard told the news outlet La Tribune Sunday The law on the country’s budget for 2025 will aim for a deficit of just over 5%, according to the translation of the Reuters news agency.

— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan and Reuters contributed to a roundup of European markets.