Asian stocks yesterday rose in thin Boxing Day trade, extending a “Santa Rally” with key markets Hong Kong and Sydney still shut for the holidays.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed up 1.1 percent at 39,568.06 points, boosted by comments from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and share price gains for top-selling automaker Toyota Motor Corp.
China’s plans for massive bond issues next year also bolstered investor sentiment.
Photo: AP
“Even though many in the region are still shaking off a bit of a holiday hangover, with several markets closed for Boxing Day, Asian stocks opened higher, riding a favorable wave from China’s financial bond juggernaut,” SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said.
In Taipei, the TAIEX gained 0.12 percent to close at 23,246.94 points.
The Shanghai Composite edged 0.1 percent higher to 3,398.08, while South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.4 percent to 2,429.67 and Singapore’s Straits Times Index shed 0.11 percent to 3,765.46.
Jakarta and Wellington were closed.
Markets were closed yesterday in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.
London Stockton, an analyst at Ned Davis Research, said that the “Santa Claus rally could still be alive, with strong seasonality into the end of the year.”
Stock markets have traditionally fared well in the final five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year, a trend known as the “Santa Claus rally.”
Among a number of possible reasons advanced by experts include the festive holiday mood and purchasing ahead of the end of the tax year.
Innes said remarks from Ueda on Wednesday, in which he refrained from signaling a potential interest rate hike next month, also “influenced bullish regional sentiments.”
Shares of Japanese market heavyweight Toyota ended nearly 6 percent higher after reports in the Nikkei business daily said it aimed to double its return on equity — a key measure of a company’s financial performance.
Markets had been closed across Europe and North America for Christmas. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.9 percent on Christmas Eve, while the tech-heavy S&P 500 rallied 1.1 percent.
Oil edged higher yesterday in light holiday trading, buoyed by fiscal stimulus measures in China and a US industry report flagging another drop in stockpiles. Brent traded near US$74 a barrel, after a 1.3 percent gain in the previous session.
The US dollar rose to ￥157.34 from ￥157.19. The euro fell to US$1.0396 from US$1.0410.
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