Asia report: Markets mixed in quiet New Year's Eve trading

In Japan, markets were closed entirely for New Years Eve, as the yen strengthened 0.29% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 108.56.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was 0.33% firmer at 3,050.12, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite added 0.55% to 1,722.95.

Shanghai’s returns for the year stood at 22%, while in Shenzhen the composite’s annual gains were almost 36%, marking a decent turnaround from 2018, when China’s boards handed in their worst performance in 10 years.

In fresh data out of China, the country’s official purchasing managers’ index came in above forecasts for December at 50.2, compared to the 50.1 predicted by economists polled by Reuters.

South Korea’s bourse was also closed for the day, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closed its shortened session down 0.46% at 28,189.75.

Sentiment was broadly optimistic on New Year’s Eve in the region, after the South China Morning Post reported overnight that Chinese vice-premier and trade negotiator Liu He was set to travel to Washington this week to sign the much-anticipated phase one trade deal with the United States.

The report suggested Beijing had accepted Washington’s invitation to sign the deal on American soil, with the Chinese delegation expected to remain in the US into next week.

Oil prices were lower as the region headed out to ring in the New Year, with Brent crude last down 1.25% at $65.85 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate 1.28% lower at $60.90.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 ended its truncated day 1.78% weaker at 6,684.10, as the hefty financials subindex dragged on the benchmark index.

Of the country’s major banking plays, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was down 0.69%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia lost 1.48%, National Australia Bank slipped 1.04%, and Westpac Banking Corporation was off 0.7%.

For the year as a whole, Sydney’s main index returned gains of more than 18%.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 rounded out a bumper year by falling 0.6% to 11,491.90 in a truncated session in Wellington.

For the full 12 months, the country’s top flight index saw gains of 30.4% overall.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger on the greenback, with the Aussie last ahead 0.29% at AUD 1.4257, and the Kiwi advancing 0.19% to NZD 1.4835.