HONG KONG: Tokyo retreated again Friday despite Toshiba's shares ending their three-day free fall as Asian markets prepared to bring the curtain down on a volatile 2016.
With Wall Street inching back further from breaching the historic 20,000 barrier, Japanese stocks fell for a second day, losing 0.6 percent to wipe out all gains for 2016 with the Nikkei on course to finish the year broadly flat.
But shares in troubled Toshiba rose following a bloodletting since Tuesday that saw investors dump stock over a massive one-time loss.
Hong Kong advanced 0.6 percent, with the Hang Seng also ending the year broadly unchanged.
Shanghai recorded a modest gain of less than 0.1 percent but stocks in the world's second largest economy have endured a torrid year, buffeted by feckless policymakers, massive capital flight and a languishing currency. Shanghai's benchmark was set to end the year about 12 percent down.
The falling yuan -- lowered seven percent by the central bank over the year in the face of a surging dollar -- has driven investors abroad in search of better performance.
Trading has been light worldwide this week, with volumes in crude oil, equities and currencies all below average.
Analysts said investors may be reallocating money as they take stock of recent asset moves.
"Markets are extremely thin and perhaps position tuning occurred," Shigeki Yoshitoshi, head of Japan foreign-exchange and commodities sales at Australia & New Zealand Bank Group in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
Traders are winding down Friday ahead of New Year celebrations, with Sydney, which is set to end the year more than seven percent up, closing early along with Wellington and Manila.
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