European investors took profits in pharmaceuticals stocks and continued to sell down the resources sectors as trade on equity markets was wound down for the Christmas break.

At the close in London on Christmas Eve, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.5 per cent to 804.59, and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.9 per cent to 3,101.27. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.9 per cent to 4,216.59.