Asian equities mixed in pre-Santa session

Asian equities mixed in pre-Santa session

Thankfully, reporters have stopped asking me if we will get a Santa Claus rally in stock markets, as it has well and truly arrived. Wall Street rose again overnight after a strong procession on US data and markets convincing themselves even more, that omicron is a mildly symptomatic storm in a teacup. There was positive news from the US data dump, as PCE Index, Durable Goods and Michigan Consumer Sentiment were all solid.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.62%, while the Nasdaq jumped by 0.82%, with the Dow Jones moving 0.52% higher. Santa and his reindeer may be serving a compulsory quarantine on arrival, but he has still managed to drop off some record highs for the holiday season.

US index futures are closed and Asia itself is having another mixed performance today in line with similar cautious sentiment displayed over the week. The Nikkei 225 has crept 0.10% higher, with the Kospi rising by 0.60% and Taipei climbing by 0.35%. Hong Kong has risen by 0.20% but mainland exchanges have edged lower. The Shanghai Composite and CSI 300 are 0.35% lower.

Singapore and Jakarta have risen by 0.30% while Kuala Lumpur has edged 0.10% lower. Bangkok has eased by 0.15%, and Manila has retreated by 0.70%. Australian markets are determined to end what is effectively their last trading day for the year on a bright note. The ASX 200 and All Ordinaries have followed Wall Street 0.50% higher today.

Asian markets look very much to be in book-squared waiting-for-midday-to leave-mode. I expect the positive momentum to continue into northern hemisphere markets this evening, and if omicron remains a side-lined issue, we could see this rally extend into the New Year.

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.