(Read that the London Stock Exchange closed half an hour earlier than Paris)
    * The CAC 40 drops slightly before Christmas, the FTSE rises a little
    * The agreement between London and Brussels on the post-Brexit period is desired
    * Wall Street indices expected to rise moderately

by Patrick Vignal
    PARIS, Dec 24 (Reuters) - European stock markets ended on Thursday
in disorder a session shortened on Christmas Eve and marked by
waiting for an agreement between London and Brussels on their relations
trade after Brexit. 
    On Wall Street, which will also benefit from a lighter regime with a closing
at 18:00 GMT, contracts signal progress as the opening approaches
moderate benchmarks.
    In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.1% to 5,522.01 points and in London, the
British Footsie gained 0.1%. 
    The EuroStoxx 50 index advanced by 0.11%, the FTSEurofirst 300
 and the Stoxx 600 each taking 0.2%.    
    Paris closed at 13:00 GMT and London half an hour earlier.
Frankfurt remained closed.
    The European Union and the United Kingdom are about to conclude an agreement
on their post-Brexit trade relations, thus distancing the perspective
a chaotic divorce at the end of a soap opera that dealt a severe blow to the
project of European unity born on the ruins of the Second World War.

Last-minute disagreement on fisheries delays
conclusion of an agreement but an announcement is still expected in the
day, according to several sources.
    Whether signing an agreement will avoid the worst-case scenario - a
Disorderly break -, the United Kingdom is moving towards a relationship with its
main trading partner more distant than observers
imagined it at the time of the 2016 referendum, in which the British
are in favour of leaving the EU.
    The imminence of an agreement overshadows the threat made Tuesday by Donald Trump not to
not sign the agreement on a budget support plan of nearly 900 billion
of dollars to the U.S. economy, to which markets reacted without
panic, counting on a signature at the last minute.
    
VALUES IN EUROPE
    Most European sector indices ended in the green with a
marked increase for banks, whose Stoxx index rose 0.72%.
    The biggest increase in the CAC 40 was for PSA, which gained 1.2%. Has
the other end, STMicrolectronics lost 1.15%. 
    Also in Paris, Carmat soared nearly 38% after
obtained certification from the European Commission for its artificial heart.

VALUES TO WATCH ON WALL STREET
    
EXCHANGE/RATES 
    The dollar lost 0.17% against a basket of reference currencies and the euro lost
stabilizes just below $1.22.
    The pound sterling, on the other hand, climbed 0.6% against both the dollar and the euro in
waiting for an announcement on the post-Brexit period.
    Some nervousness remains in the markets, as evidenced by the performance
10-year Treasuries, which lose nearly two basis points,
around 0.94%.
    
PETROLEUM 
    The two benchmark oil contracts have started to fall again,
caught up in fears for demand. 
    Brent lost 0.62% to $50.80 a barrel and light crude
US (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) fell 0.67% to $47.88.
        
THE SITUATION ON THE MARKETS:
    (Some data may lag slightly)
    
THE CLOSURE IN                                                 
 EUROPE                                                 
 Indices Last Var.      Var. % YTD             
                            Points                      
 Eurofirst 300 1526.15 +3.09 +0.20% -6.02%          
                                                        
Eurostoxx 50 3543.28 +4.02 +0.11% -5.39%          
                                                        
CAC 40 5522.01 -5.58 -0.10% -7.63%          
 Dax 30 13587.23 +169.12 +1.26% +2.55%          
 (closed Thursday)                                          
 FTSE 6502.11 +6.36 +0.10% -13.79          
                                                %       
 SMI 10411.92 +8.55 +0.08% -1.93%          
                                                                
The values to follow in Paris and in                            
 Europe:                                               
                                                                
THE TREND A                                                 
 WALL STREET                                            
 Indices Last Var.      Var. % YTD             
                            Points                      
 Dow Jones 0.00 +114.32 +0.38% +5.58%          
                                                        
S&P 500 0.00 +2.75 +0.07% +14.21          
                                                %       
 Nasdaq 0.00 -36.80 -0.29% +42.33          
                                                %       
 Nasdaq 100 0.00 -64.42 -0.51% +44.89          
                                                %       
                                                                
Minutes of the meeting in Wall                              
 Street:                                               
 "The Day Ahead" - Update on the next                    
 wall street session                                   
                                                                
FOREIGN EXCHANGE                                                       
                  Course Watch Var.% YTD             
 Euro/Dlr 1.2193 1.2185 +0.07% +8.77%          
 Dlr/Yen 103.67 103.55 +0.12% -4.77%          
 Euro/Yen 126.40 126.19 +0.17% +3.65%          
                                                        
Dlr/CHF 0.8899 0.8878 +0.24% -8.05%          
 Euro/CHF 1.0852 1.0819 +0.31% +0.00%          
                                                        
Stg/Dlr 1.3588 1.3492 +0.71% +2.50%          
 Index $ 90.2640 90.4130 -0.16% -6.14%          
                                                                
GOLD                                                             
                  Course Watch Var. % YTD             
 Gold Spot 1874.26 1872.08 +0.12% +23.55          
                                                %       
                                                                
RATE                                                          
                            Last Var.      Spread/Bund
                                                  (pts)
                                                                
Future Bund 177.36 -0.57                     
                                                        
Bund 10 years -0.55 -0.01                     
                                                        
Bund 2 years -0.68 +0.02                     
                                                        
OAT 10 years -0.30 +0.01 +25.21          
                                                        
Treasury 10 years 0.94 -0.02                     
                                                        
Treasury 2 years 0.12 -0.00                     
                                                        
OIL                                                       
                  Previous course Var Var.% YTD
                            t                           
 US Light Crude 47.81 48.12 -0.31 -0.64% -21.89%
                                                        
Brent 50.88 51.20 -0.32 -0.62% -22.94%