Asian stock markets mixed on final trading day of 2016

SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of – Asian stock markets were mixed Friday with little economic news to move the markets on the final trading day of 2016.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2 per cent to 19,114.37 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.1 per cent to 22,029.80. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 3,096.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.6 per cent to 5,665.80. Markets in Southeast Asia were higher. South Korean markets were closed for holiday.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “Wall Street can be seen repositioning toward the New Year and that could be the case for Asia as well amid moderate movements in major markets,” said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore. “Pressure may nevertheless set in for markets that have underperformed lately in Asia.”

WALL STREET: Wall Street closed with slight losses on Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.90 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 19,819.78. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 0.66 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 2,249.26 The Nasdaq composite lost 6.47 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 5,432.09.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude added 21 cents to $53.98 per barrel in New York. The contract fell 29 cents to close at $53.77 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 27 cents to $57.12 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar strengthened to 116.81 yen from 116.37 yen. The euro fell to $1.0525 from $1.0556.