China’s factory activity expanded for a third straight month in December. (AP pic)
HONG KONG: Asian shares struggled for direction on the last trading day of 2024, on course for their first quarterly loss this year after a weak showing on Wall Street.
Equities fell in Australia and fluctuated in mainland China.
Those in Hong Kong saw mild gains.
US futures were steady in Asia, following declines for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 overnight.
A gauge of regional stocks looks poised to finish the fourth quarter in the red, snapping a four-quarter winning streak.
Despite the latest weakness, it remains on track to gain for a second consecutive year.
The cautious tone today partly reflects lingering concerns about the stamina of Wall Street’s rally this year that was predominantly driven by the so-called Magnificent Seven cohort of US tech giants.
It’s also an indication of uncertainties facing investors in 2025, ranging from president-elect Donald Trump’s protectionist policies to the Federal Reserve’s outlook and the health of China’s economy.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was largely steady and set for its best year since 2015 in a rally fuelled by Trump’s re-election in November and the Fed’s less dovish policy pivot.
An index of treasuries looks set to eke out a small gain for the year.
“Investors are in wait-and-see mode,” Noel Dixon, senior macro strategist at State Street Corp, told Bloomberg Television.
“We don’t know what the retaliatory effects are going to be and how the Fed is ultimately going to react to those tariffs.”
Today’s trading is also thin because markets including South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines are shut for a public holiday.
Stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Singapore are open for half a day, while Japanese markets are closed through Jan 6.
There’s also no cash trading in treasuries in Asia.
On the economic front, China’s factory activity expanded for a third straight month in December, bolstering expectations the economy will reach its annual growth target after Beijing’s stimulus blitz.
In the latest sign of simmering tensions between Beijing and Washington, the US treasury department said it was hacked by a Chinese state-sponsored actor through a third-party software service provider.
Elsewhere, a South Korean court today issued an arrest warrant for embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been suspended from power over his short-lived martial law declaration, according to investigators.
In commodities, gold inched up, set for one of its biggest annual gains this century.
Oil rose but still headed for a small annual loss after months locked in a narrow trading range.
