European stock markets begin 2006 this week in buoyant fashion having notched up 4-1/2 year highs but trading volumes are still expected to be low as the holiday season continues.
Economic data this week is dominated by US non-farm payrolls for December on Friday with economists expecting around 200,000 jobs will have been added compared with November's 215,000.
The main corporate highlight will be French 2005 new car sales due on Monday, which is expected to show flat figures overall with a large decline for Renault. The company reports its own global car sales volumes on Wednesday.
Italian new car registrations for December are also due on Monday.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed at 1,284.69 on Thursday, its highest level since August 2001. The index has added around 23 percent in 2005 to book its best year since 1999.
The main drivers have been profit growth at more than double the rate expected at the start of the year combined with a boom in mergers and acquisitions. Many analysts expect the momentum to continue into early 2006.
HSBC is maintaining an "overweight" rating on continental European stocks and says the outlook for 2006 is reasonably bright.
It has a FTSEurofirst 300 target of 1,400 points for 2006, a gain of 9 percent from the current level, and sees similar gains for Japanese and US stocks.
"We expect capital gains to reflect a mix of slow earnings growth around 5 percent in the US and Europe, perhaps 10 percent in Japan and some modest price-driven rise in multiples - the latter for the first time since 1999," HSBC says.
Payrolls will be of particular interest after the US Treasury yield curve recently inverted, in which 10-year bond yields fell below two-year yields.
This has usually been seen as a potential signal of slower growth in the world's largest economy but most analysts doubt that is happening.
Euro zone December services PMI, euro zone November PPI and euro zone November retail sales on Thursday stand out on the European economic calendar.
The London Stock Exchange, Irish Stock Exchange and Swiss Stock Exchange are closed on Monday for New Year festivities while bourses including Helsinki, Madrid and Stockholm are shut on Friday for Epiphany.
Also on a thin corporate agenda, UK retailer Next is due to post a trading statement on Wednesday while British Airways reports December traffic figures on Thursday.
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