HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks rose Wednesday to rebound from recent lows as Tokyo shares ended flat despite Toshiba's second straight double-digit plunge, in quiet Asian trading before the New Year.
Technology companies led the recovery in the south China financial hub whose market has slumped more than six percent this quarter, as the city struggled with headwinds including higher borrowing costs hitting the outlook for its property market.
In Tokyo, stock in the troubled Japanese conglomerate Toshiba plummeted more than 20 percent as the company said it may book a one-time loss of several billion dollars over its US nuclear business.
Hong Kong finished up 0.8 percent on the market's first working day since the Christmas break, while Shanghai slid 0.4 percent by the close.
Chinese investors have endured a tough year during which bonds, shares and currency have all slumped. Shanghai is heading for its largest drop in five years.
The thin trading volume is expected to continue in Asian markets during the last week of a volatile 12 months.
Investors have displayed resilience in the face of shocks such as the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's US presidential win, helping to weaken the yen and propel Japan's Nikkei to 12-month highs.
"The environment isn't bad, but with some foreign investors away on vacation, there are few participants and the market lacks momentum to push prices beyond recent highs," Chihiro Ohta, a Tokyo-based senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities, told Bloomberg News.
Australian shares rose one percent, the most in three weeks, after a long holiday weekend to continue a pre-Christmas rally albeit on low volumes.
Seoul ended the day 0.9 percent down as the country's political crisis dragged on while Singapore was 0.4 percent up by the close.
US crude prices were largely flat ahead of US energy inventory data to be released Thursday. On Tuesday, US oil prices finished at $53.90 a barrel, their highest level of the year.
But analysts said trading volumes were around half typical levels.
"On such low volumes it's difficult to read much into the moves and focus will turn to OPEC in the new year," said CMC Markets sales trader Alex Furber, referring to planned output curbs by the oil cartel to bolster the market.
The yen drifted lower against the dollar for a second day, with analysts pointing to strong US consumer data as supporting the greenback.
The Japanese currency declined despite data showing the nation's industrial production rose 1.5 percent in November from the previous month.
On Wall Street, the Dow again failed to break through the landmark 20,000 barrier although the Nasdaq finished at a fresh record Tuesday.
In early European trade, London added 0.1 percent while Paris and Frankfurt were flat.
- Key figures around 0800 GMT -
===============================
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 19,401.72 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.8 percent at 21,754.74 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,102.24 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0465 from $1.0457
Dollar/yen: UP at 117.51 yen from 117.45 yen
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2281 from $1.2270
Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1 cent at $53.89 per barrel
Oil - Brent North Sea: UP 34 cents at $56.09
New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 19,945.04 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,073.59
-- Bloomberg News contributed to this story --
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.