European shares up 0.1% Asia stocks subdued S&P 500 closed at record high Dec 30 - 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 DEFENSIVES AND TECH LEND SUPPORT TO STOXX (0852 GMT) On the last full trading day of the year in Europe, investors are opting for a defensive allocation with sectors from pharma to tech keeping the STOXX 600 (.STOXX) index anchored above parity. In early deals the pan-European equity benchmark moved between flat and a small gain, and was last up 0.1% with low pre-holiday volumes likely to result in another subdued session as the year end nears. Several European markets from Italy to Germany and Spain will be closed tomorrow, while those including Paris and London will trade for half a session, ahead of the New Year. snapshot snapshot (Danilo Masoni) ***** EUROPE EYES ANOTHER QUIET DAY NEAR PEAKS (0731 GMT) European shares look set for another quiet trading session with main regional benchmarks near or above recent peaks as investors head into 2022 on a cautiously confident mindset. The STOXX 600 (.STOXX) is just a handful of points away from a record high it hit in November, having fully reclaimed the losses related to worries that restrictions to fight Omicron variant could slow down the economy at the turn of the year. Futures on the euro STOXX 50, DAX, FTSE and IBEX indices were last trading between a gain and a fall of around 0.1%, following a subdued session in Asia and the 70th record high close this year for the S&P 500. Global COVID-19 infections hit a record high over the past seven-day period, Reuters data showed, as Omicron raced out of control and governments tried to contain its spread without paralysing fragile economies. read more U.S. stock index futures were last just below parity. (Danilo Masoni)