Stocks have shown little momentum in recent days due to the upcoming holidays and the fact that many major indexes have returned to levels last seen before Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, which plunged the financial world into crisis and contributed to a global recession.

The best performance in Europe came from Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading shares, which moved above 6,000 for the first time since the summer of 2008. However, the last batch of trades pushed it below and it ended up 0.2 percent at 5,996.07.

The CAC-40 in France closed down 0.2 percent at 3,911.32 while Germany's DAX ended 0.1 percent lower at 7,057.69.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up around 15 points at 11,574.93 around midday New York time while the broader Standard and Poor's 500 index fell just over a point to 1,257.36.

Investors barely reacted to some positive US economic news, including another fall in weekly jobless claims, a big increase in core durable goods orders — which strip out the volatile commercial aircraft orders — and a solid increase in US consumer spending.

Analysts said the data reinforced market expectations that the US economy is picking up steam heading into 2011 — a development that will benefit the whole world economy.

Though figures Wednesday showed the US economy grew by a lower-than-anticipated 2.6 percent annualized rate in the third quarter, the general consensus remains that the US economic recovery is gaining traction, partly thanks to a deal to extend tax cuts to all Americans.

Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, said the US economy may have grown between 3.5-4 percent in the fourth quarter.

Normally, this sort of economic news would have been a boon to stocks but with many traders closing up shop for the rest of the year, the reaction was muted.

"Fundamentals are taking a back seat to technicals amidst illiquid, year-end conditions this week," said Michael Woolfolk, an analyst at Bank of New York Mellon.

Christmas Eve on Friday is a bank holiday in the US and Germany, and a half-day for traders in Britain and France.

The recent rise in stocks over upbeat signs on the US economic recovery and greater corporate dealmaking pushed oil prices up to 26-month highs — above $90 a barrel.

Freezing winter conditions in Europe have bolstered crude's rally.

Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 57 cents to $91.05 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In the currency markets, the euro was flat at $1.31 while the dollar fell 0.6 percent to 83 yen.

Europe's debt crisis was still percolating, however. The Fitch Ratings agency on Thursday downgraded Hungary's debt to one notch above junk status, citing ill-conceived budget plans, and also downgraded Portugal's credit rating over concerns about the government's ability to raise money in the markets. Ireland, meanwhile, gained court approval to nationalize Allied Irish Banks, the fourth bank it has taken over.

Earlier in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.6 percent to 22,902.97, as worries over a possible interest rate hike in China cast a pall on the upbeat overseas news.

South Korea's Kospi also fell 0.3 percent to 2,037.50 while the Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.8 percent to 2,855.20.

Elsewhere, Australia's S and P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 percent at 4,888.20.

Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.