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Asian markets rise as China affirms loose policy (AP)
moved sideways Thursday as trading at some of the continent’s major bourses was subdued before the Christmas holiday.
In Europe, the FTSE-100 index of leading British shares was up 11.27 points or 0.2 percent at 5,384, while France’s CAC-40 was up 3.16 points or 0.1 percent at 3,914.20.
was closed for the day, while the London market was scheduled to close early at 12:30 p.m. because of the holiday.
Gains were seen capped ahead of the long weekend with sharply constrained trading volumes as well as a surprisingly weak U.S. housing report Wednesday that showed sales of new homes dropped in November to the lowest level since April.
Contrary to many expectations, stocks around the world have rallied this week — many analysts were anticipating a modest pullback as investors shut up shop for the year by booking profits accumulated during the nine-month bull market.
to move higher Thursday amid expectations China will maintain loose monetary policy.
There was also an element of catch-up for Asian stocks as the region’s markets, up massively from their March lows, have this month lagged gains in developed markets.
held above $77 a barrel while the dollar fell slightly versus the yen and the euro.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped 79.63 points, or 2.6 percent, to close at 3,153.41 and
climbed 188.26, or 0.9 percent, to 21,517.
stock average rose to a fresh three-month high as the yen’s recent weakness lifted exporters amid thin Christmas season trade. The index gained 158.89 points, or 1.5 percent, to 10,536.92, the highest finish since late September.
Most other markets gained, including Seoul’s Kospi, which added 1.3 percent, and Taiwan’s Taiex, up 0.8 percent. On Friday, markets around the world will be closed for the Christmas holiday though Japan and China will continue to trade.
On Wednesday, the
rose 1.51, or 0.01 percent, to 10,466.44.
& Poor’s 500 index rose 2.57, or 0.2 percent, to 1,120.59, while the
gained 16.97, or 0.8 percent, to 2,269.64.
The U.S. stock performance came amid mixed
.
The Commerce Department said sales of new homes plunged 11.3 percent in November to their lowest level since March, confounding economists who had forecast an increase.
On the positive side, personal incomes rose 0.4 percent in November — the fastest rate in four months — helped by higher wages. Spending rose 0.5 percent. Both figures, however, fell slightly short of market expectations.
Mark Tan, who helps manage about SG$15 billion ($10.7 billion) of equities and bonds at UOB Asset Management in Singapore, said
were playing a bit of catch-up.
“Basically, Asia has underperformed the developed markets this month,” he said.
extended gains above $77 a barrel in Asia as a larger than expected drop in U.S. crude supplies fueled investor optimism that consumer demand is improving.
Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 65 cents to $77.32 in
. The contract rose $2.27 to settle at $76.67 on Wednesday.
In currencies, the dollar fell 0.3 percent to 91.27 yen but remains near its highest level since late October. The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.4359.
AP Business Writers Kelly Olsen in Seoul and Joe McDonald in Beijing, and Associated Press Writer Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report.