By Ankika Biswas

(Reuters) – Europe’s main stocks index opened higher on Tuesday, with travel and leisure and energy stocks leading gains amid light trading volumes ahead of the Christmas break.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2% as of 0855 GMT, with many markets either shut or working reduced hours for Christmas Eve.

Most European markets will be closed for the next two days.

Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris will have half-day trading sessions on Tuesday, while Frankfurt and Milan are closed.

With just a few more days to the New Year, investors are looking out for any developments related U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s White House inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump has threatened import tariffs against crucial economies including China and Mexico.

The incoming president’s expected policies are considered inflationary and have already been factored in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook. The European Central Bank, which has delivered back-to-back rate cuts this year, flagged prospective trade tensions with the U.S. under Trump.

“Our relatively optimistic take on Germany rests on an assumption of limited new U.S. trade restrictions vis-à-vis Europe. Spain is likely to continue its outperformance of the euro area. For one, it is less (goods) trade dependant than other euro area economies,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a weekly note.

Despite hitting record highs this year, the STOXX 600 is up just around 5% so far in 2024, with momentum stalling in the face of Trump’s proposed measures, lacklustre Chinese spending, geopolitical tensions and a weak domestic economic picture, among other factors.

Automobiles, expected to be the worst-hit under Trump, is set to be the top sectoral laggard of the year, while defence and banks are on track to be the biggest gainers.

On the day, travel and leisure regained some lost ground, rising 0.5%, after sliding 2% on Monday. Energy, too, was up 0.5%, tracking higher oil prices.

Among individual movers, British homebuilder Vistry slumped 18% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after warning on its fiscal 2024 profit for the third time, citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions.

Elsewhere, France unveiled a new government that Prime Minister Francois Bayrou will hope can oversee the passage of a 2025 budget and prevent a deepening of crisis. The CAC 40 was last up 0.4%.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)