Asian markets ended mixed during holiday trade

Asian markets ended mixed during holiday trade
Dec 30, 2009

The stock market in Asia ended narrowly mixed in a dwindling holiday trade last Tuesday, after Wall Street posted subdued gains.

The dollar was fairly higher against the yen and euro. Australian shares led the region, its resource-heavy market powered by more solid prices for gold, oil and other commodities in recent days.

Across much of the region, trade was thin and sluggish, with many investors out for the holidays and reluctant to place bets toward the end of a year marked by remarkable gains in stocks worldwide.

The Nikkei 225 stock in Japan rose 0.1 percent or 6.97 points, to 10,641.20. Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.1 percent or 12.99 points, to 21,467.23.

Kospi in South Korea dropped 1.3 percent to 1,663.47, and the Shanghai index in China lost 0.3 percent to 3,177.82.

Elsewhere, the key index in Australia rose 1.1 percent to 4,845.1. Sensex in India gained 0.2 percent and Singapore's market advanced 0.2 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial in the US rose 0.3 percent or 26.98 points, to 10,547.08 in Monday. The Dow transportation fell 0.6 percent or 24.37 points, to 4,163.49.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 0.1 percent or 1.3 points, to 1,127.78, and the Nasdaq composite index increased 0.2 percent or 5.39 points, to 2,291.08.

In Asia, oil prices hung below $79 per barrel, with benchmark crude for February delivery down by 11 cents to $78.66. The contract settled up 72 cents at $78.77 on Monday after soaring above $79, as the extended cold snap in the US spurred an end-of-year rally in energy futures.