Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Christmas Eve, after key U.S. benchmarks rose overnight, helped by gains in tech stocks.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index docked 124.49 points, or 0.3%, to 39,036.85, as minutes of the Bank of Japan’s October meeting showed that members agreed to stick with raising rates if the economic and inflation outlook was met.
Japanese automaker Honda surged 12.69%, while Nissan shares rose over 5%, a day after they announced starting formal discussions to merge, paving the pay to create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales. Discussions are set to conclude in June 2025.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng jumped 215.16 points, or 1.1%, to 20,098.29.
Korean markets were flat, as the country’s consumer confidence slipped to the lowest in over two years. The country’s consumer sentiment index dropped by more than 12 points from November to 88.4 in December, falling below the 100-point mark that separates optimism from pessimism, a survey released by the Bank of Korea showed.
Australian markets closed slightly higher on a shortened trading day.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 50.12 points, or 1.3%, to 3,983.69.
In Taiwan, the Taiex edged up 15.7 points, or 0.1%, to 23,120.24
In Korea, the Kospi index slipped 1.49 points, or 0.1%, to 2,440.52
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gathered 17.22 points, or 0.5%, at 3,769.55
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 86.7 points, or 0.7%, to 13,074.73.
In Australia, the ASX 200 surged 19.28 points, or 0.2%, to 8,220.86.