Dec 29 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com EUROPE: JUST A WHISKER FROM A NEW RECORD HIGH (0922 GMT) Will it? Won"t it? The STOXX 600 has gently crept in striking distance of a new record high this morning, rising to 490.10 points, so just 0.48 points from its November 17 historic peak. The timing of such a performance is pretty counterintuitive given that Europe is facing its worst wave of infections since the start of the pandemic but hopes the Omicron variant proves milder is keeping the Santa rally going. As you can see below the November Omicron dip is close to being fully bought: record record (Julien Ponthus) ***** UK STOCKS DO THE HEAVY LIFTING AT THE OPEN (0830 GMT) If it wasn"t for the London stock market, European equities would probably have opened in negative territory. But with the FTSE 100 and 250 now cruising up 0.8% and 1.3% respectively, the pan-European STOXX 600 is above the floatation mark with a 0.2% rise. Paris is rising 0.15%, Madrid and Milan are roughly flat while Frankfurt is down about 0.2%. As you can see below, ten minutes after the opening bell, the vast majority of the best performing stocks of the STOXX 600 were trading in London: London London With the UK press wondering whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson could cut isolation time for people infected with COVID-19, the mood regarding the economic impact of Omicron isn"t as bad as it could be given the record number of cases. In terms of sectors, retail (+1.3%) is leading the way, followed by media (1%) and oil and gas (+0.6%). (Julien Ponthus) ***** SANTA RALLY RUNNING OUT OF GAS? (0715 GMT) European stock markets look set to open slightly in the red this morning after weak sessions in Asia and on Wall Street. Futures for Europe"s main benchmarks are down about 0.1% after the STOXX 600 pulled off a five-week high yesterday and France"s CAC 40 reached a new record. These milestones came in the context of record COVID-19 infections across the continent which haven"t so far changed the upbeat mood for equity markets. So far this month, the pan-European STOXX 600 is up 5.7% and over 16% in 2021. (Julien Ponthus)