GLOBAL MARKETS-Stabilising oil lifts European shares and bond yields

(From Dec. 24 to 31, only one Global Markets wrapup a day will
move from London. Normal coverage will resume on Jan. 4)
By Marius Zaharia
LONDON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - European stocks rose and euro
zone bond yields edged up on Tuesday as oil prices stabilised
above 11-year lows on the back of prospects for lower
temperatures on both sides of the Atlantic.
The fall in oil prices has been a major driver of financial
markets this year, hammering energy companies, lowering
inflation expectations and reinforcing bets on loose monetary
policy in Europe and a slow tightening in the United States.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were up 21
cents at $37.02 per barrel, following a more than 3 percent fall
on Monday. Brent, the international benchmark LCOc1 , was at
$36.82 per barrel, up 20 cents but still less than a dollar away
from an 11-year low hit earlier in December.
This lifted shares in Europe, where the pan-European
FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.9 percent while the euro
zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index .STOXX50E advanced 1.3
percent. .EU
"Brent crude is slightly higher, and if it can drag itself
across the $37 per barrel mark it is struggling with, then
European stock markets may be able to hold on to some gains,"
said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE , opening for the
first time since the Christmas break, rose 0.4 percent. It
underperformed its European peers due to a fall in major mining
stocks, which account for around 5 percent of the FTSE's market
capitalisation.
Their poor performance came as London copper dipped for a
second day and aluminium shed 1 percent on concerns about demand
from top consumer China. MET/L
Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE rose 1.6 percent following its move
to sell its 20 percent stake in China's Hua Xia Bank 600015.SS
to insurer PICC Property and Casualty Co 2328.HK for up to
25.7 billion yuan ($4 billion).
German 10-year Bund yields DE10YT=TWEB , the benchmark for
euro zone borrowing costs, rose 2 basis points to 0.58 percent
and most other bond yields in the single currency region were up
1-3 basis points.
Spanish bond yields nudged down as differences between
political parties made an anti-austerity leftist coalition look
increasingly unlikely.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.1 percent. But it remained on track to
mark a loss of around 12 percent for 2015, a year that saw it
log a more than seven-year high in April.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 added 0.9 percent,
while the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC closed up a similar
amount, as the central bank vowed to maintain reasonable credit
growth and keep the yuan stable.
China's yuan fell to 6.5800 against the dollar in offshore
trading CNH=D3 , its weakest since a hefty devaluation in
August, mirroring a fall in onshore rates, with traders citing
strong year-end dollar demand.
The euro nudged up 0.1 percent to $1.0980 EUR= .