The main US stock indices continued to decline last week, having lost 0.49%-1.49% by the end of Monday. An additional negative factor was a decline in the housing market index in the country by 2 points to 31 by the end of December.

The main European stock indexes started the current week with the growth of 0.36% - 0.40% after a 3% decline at the end of the previous week. They were supported by the business climate index in Germany for December, which rose to 88.6 points. This exceeded analysts' forecasts expecting it at the level of 87.4 points. In November the index was 86.3 points.

Last week's negative dynamics was caused by the central banks of the US, the EU and the UK raising their rates - investors were cautious about another tightening of credit and monetary policy. This week's events will not be as significant, with lower trading volume expected in anticipation of the coming New Year holidays, says analyst Naeem Aslam, whose opinion is cited by France-Presse.