LONDON, Dec 29 Reuters European stock indexes were mixed on Thursday as global recession fears weighed on markets and soaring COVID19 cases in China countered earlier optimism about the country dropping its strict zeroCOVID policy.

China39;s health system has been overwhelmed after the country reversed its lockdown and testing regimes earlier this month. The United States, India, Italy, Japan and Taiwan said they would require COVID19 tests for travellers from China.

With markets thin, China and Hong Kong stocks fell, and MSCI39;s broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan was down 0.7 at 1223 GMT.

But the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was down just 0.1 on the day.

European stocks were mixed. The STOXX 600 was flat on the day, London39;s FTSE 100 was down 0.1 and Germany39;s DAX was up 0.2.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a more upbeat tone on Wall Street, with Nasdaq 100 eminis up 0.6 and SP 500 eminis up 0.4 .

Lower liquidity during the holiday period and a lack of news from central banks means market moves can be choppy, lacking consistent direction, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

Erlam said that uncertainty about how China39;s policy reversal would affect global supply chains could become more of a focus for investors in the coming days, but that there was not enough information yet.

We appear to just be drifting into 2023 at this point, he said.

Investors were also kept cautious due to fears of…