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Jan 5 (Reuters) - European shares edged up on Tuesday,
lifted by oil and retail stocks, while investors looked past a
new national lockdown in Britain to contain a surge in
coronavirus cases.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was up 0.1% by
0814 GMT, after opening slightly lower following losses in Asia
and on Wall Street over worries about the runoff Senate
elections in the U.S. state of Georgia.
UK's FTSE 100 .FTSE rose 0.6%, boosted by oil majors Royal
Dutch Shell RDSa.L and BP BP.L providing the biggest
support.
British fashion retailer Next NXT.L jumped 8.2% after it
said its Christmas sales were much better than it had expected.
The domestically focussed midcap index .FTMC inched 0.2%
higher, even as a new, more contagious variant of the
coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom prompted a
fresh shutdown of schools and businesses. Germany's DAX index .GDAXI was flat with the government
also looking to extend a lockdown. German chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor PLC DLGS.DE gained
4.7% after it gave an upbeat fourth-quarter revenue forecast due
to strong demand for 5G phones and tablets.