Asian shares mixed with most markets closed for Christmas

Stocks rose in China and were little changed in Japan on Friday with most world markets closed for Christmas holidays.

The mixed session followed an advance during Wall Street’s shortened Christmas Eve trading as investors began the holiday weekend seemingly untroubled over President Donald Trump’s threat not to sign a major economic stimulus package approved by Congress this week.

The economic package remained in limbo after Republican lawmakers rejected Trump’s demand that the end-of-year spending bill give most Americans $2,000 COVID relief checks - far more than the $600 members of his own party had agreed to. The Shanghai Composite index surged 1% to 3,396.56. Shares also rose in Taiwan and in Thailand.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 index gained 0.4% to 3703.06 but ended the week down 0.2%. Relatively safe investments like utilities and real estate were among the biggest gainers, while energy stocks fell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 30,199.87 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%, to 12,804.73.

Investors remain focused on Washington, where Democrats in Congress are expected to try to amend the $900 billion COVID stimulus bill that President Trump has threatened to veto. Democrats support higher payments for individuals, but that is unlikely to win support in the Republican-held Senate. The hope has been that Trump will back away from his veto threat and the stimulus package might tide the economy over until widespread vaccinations can help the world begin to return to normal.

Meanwhile the US economy has continued to deteriorate under widespread coronavirus outbreaks, infections and hospitalizations.

Tokyo stocks ended nominally lower on Friday after thin trade with overseas investors absent over the Christmas holidays.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.04 percent, or 11.74 points, at 26,656.61, for a weekly loss of 0.40 percent.

The broader Topix index edged up 0.23 percent, or 4.14 points, to 1,778.41 for a weekly loss of 0.83 percent.

“The market was in the state of ‘no selling in quiet times’,” Okasan Online Securities said, referring to a Tokyo market maxim cautioning traders to reject the impulse to dump shares during quiet moments and remain patient until the next opportunity arises.

“The range was so narrow that no one felt shares move,” the brokerage said in a note.

Overnight gains on Wall Street lifted the Tokyo market to open higher. The momentum however was short-lived, and investors searched for fresh news in sluggish trade.

Still, bargain hunting prevented a sharp fall of the market.

“The news that Britain and the EU reached a trade deal meant one fewer element of uncertainty, but investors did not see it as a major trading cue,” SMBC Nikko Securities added.

Former prime minister Shinzo Abe faced tough questioning in televised parliament sessions about a scandal involving payments to his supporters, but that did not move the market either.

The dollar stood at 103.56 yen, against 103.70 on Thursday in New York.

Shortly before the market opened, the government said Japan’s jobless rate was 2.9 percent in November, improving from 3.1 percent in the previous month.

Among major shares, SoftBank Group lost 3.15 percent to 7,692 yen following reports that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, for which the Japan-based internet titan serves as a major shareholder, was facing an anti-trust probe by Chinese authorities.

Shipping firms fared better.

Nippon Yusen surged 6.50 percent to 2,392 yen, after the firm upgraded annual earnings outlook. Mitsui O.S.K. lines also roared 6.35 percent to 3,150 yen.

Automakers also enjoyed gains. Toyota rose 0.59 percent at 7,789 yen. Nissan trimmed early gains but still ended up 0.71 percent at 555.2 yen.

But Sony lost 1.36 percent to 9,953 yen. Nintendo travelled between positive and negative territory, and ended down 0.09 percent at 64,670 yen.

Oil prices inched higher on Thursday, helped by late-day buying in a low-volume session to close out the week.

The market built gains overnight as Britain and the European Union reached a post-Brexit trade deal, reversed those gains, and then rebounded during the US session to end modestly higher.

U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up 11 cents to $48.23 a barrel, while Brent crude futures settled 9 cents higher at $51.29. Volumes were light on the last trading day before the Christmas holiday.

For the week, US crude fell 1.6% while Brent lost 2%.

Markets have rallied sharply since late October as vaccines progressed to approval in numerous countries. Worldwide, infections are still growing, and investors’ outlook will be clouded by the pandemic for several months.

“While the Brexit deal is supportive, the impact of COVID is the dominant driver in the oil market,” said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, in Houston, Texas. “The oil market is waiting for the wider distribution of vaccines to get the public back on the road and in the air.”