Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on December 24 as some major markets in the region including Singapore as well as Hong Kong, closed early for Christmas Eve.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.13% to finish its trading day at 23,223.76.
Mainland Chinese stocks fell on December 24. The Shanghai composite dropped 0.69% to close at 3,618.05. The Shenzhen component declined 1.033% to finish its trading day at 14,710.33.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed slightly lower at 28,782.59. The Topix index dropped 0.13% to 1,986.78.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.48% to end its trading day at 3,012.43.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.44% to close at 7,420.30. Singapore’s Straits Times index added 0.37% to 3,108.28.
U.S. stocks on December 23
U.S. stocks rose for the third day in a row on December 23 as investors looked past earlier jitters about the spread of the omicron Covid variant.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 196.67 points or 0.55% to close at 35,950.56. The S&P 500 added 0.62% to 4,725.79 and closed at a record. The index sits less than 0.4% from its intraday record high. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.85% to 15,653.37.
The gains were broad across the board, although on light volume. Bank shares saw gains on the day, along with tech stocks Microsoft and Nvidia.
New studies about the omicron variant of Covid-19 helped to boost sentiment. Also, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid pill. The agency also authorized Merck’s antiviral pill for Covid-19 on Thursday.
Travel stocks were some of the biggest winners this week during the comeback. Carnival Corp. gained nearly 16% since Monday. Hilton Worldwide added about 9.8% this week.
Last but not least, U.S. markets are closed on December 24 for the Christmas holiday.
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