European stocks traded mixed in a light trading session Thursday as traders grew optimistic a Brexit trade deal would be reached. Britain's FTSE 100 gave up early gains to fall around 0.2% while France's CAC added nearly 0.1%. The German and Italian markets are closed for Christmas Eve. British bank shares were some of the top performers as traders bet a deal would be agreed soon, with Lloyds climbing 4.6%, Barclays rising 2.3% and Natwest up 1.6%. Sterling climbed about 0.8% versus the dollar, trading at around $1.36. The euro was up 0.1% at $1.22. In Asia, stocks were mostly higher as investors watched the latest Brexit developments. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6%. On Wall Street, stock futures rose ahead of the final trading day of the holiday-shortened week.