Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday ahead of the Christmas period, and following a record S&P 500 close on Wall Street.
By 12:40 pm AEDT (1:40 am GMT), Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.5% to 8,750.20, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.4% to 50,627.24, and South Korea’s Kospi 200 grew 0.4% to 586.93.
The Kospi was buoyed by South Korea’s positive consumer confidence data today. Consumer sentiment was 109.9, down 2.5 points from the eight-year high seen in November but above neutral for an eighth consecutive month.
The ASX will close at 2:10 pm AEDT today, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will close after its morning session. Both sharemarkets will be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The Bank of Japan released minutes from its December meeting this morning. The Reserve Bank of Australia also reported its minutes yesterday.
In the United States, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to close at a record high of 6,909.79. Its intraday all-time high is 6,920.34.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite grew by 0.6%.
Brent crude prices increased 0.5% to US$62.38 per barrel. Spot gold was up 1.1% to $4,492.99 per ounce, before breaking the $4,500 barrier for the first time during Asian trading.
The Shanghai Composite was up 0.1% to 3,919.98 yesterday. The CSI 300 rose by 0.2% to 4,620.73.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.1% lower at 25,774.14, while India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.1% to 85,524.84.
European markets were mixed, with the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 up 0.2% to 9,889.22. Germany’s DAX gained 0.2% to 24,340.06, and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.2% to 8,103.85.
