European Shares Mixed, Asia Slips on Omicron Worries

A man wearing a protective mask looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 and Shanghai indexes at a securities firm with a traditional New Year decoration at its entrance in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 29, 2021. Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo

TOKYO—European benchmarks opened mixed, with London’s FTSE 100 at nearly a two-year high, after Asian shares mostly finished lower Wednesday.

France’s CAC 40 edged up 0.1 percent in early trading to 7,190.22, while Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2 percent to 15,935.45. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1 percent to 7,449.16—its highest level since February 2020, amid optimism that the omicron coronavirus variant may prove to be milder than earlier versions of the virus.