Asian equities are mixed

Record closes on Wall Street, Asia cautious

Wall Street rose modestly overnight as receding omicron fears continued attracting buyers out of cover and back into equities, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones having record closes. The S&P 500 rose by 0.14%, the Nasdaq eased by just 0.10%, and the Dow Jones rose by 0.25%. Most price action needs to be taken with a grain of salt at this time of the year, but the omicron rear-view mirror trade appears to be favouring value overgrowth right now. In Asia, some long-covering has appeared, pushing futures on all three slightly lower by 0.05%.

Asia is having a mixed day in contrast, and it appears that some pre-New-Year’s-Eve book squaring is weighing on some markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 has fallen by 0.35%, with South Korea’s Kospi down by 0.40%. Mainland China is enjoying a firm session, helped by dovish MoF comments earlier this morning that China would guide interest rates lower for 2022 government bond issuance. The Shanghai Composite is 0.80% higher, while the CSI 300 has jumped by 1.05%. Hong Kong is just 0.30% higher, a successful SenseTime IPO balanced by a slump in Evergrande stock after the company once again missed two offshore bond payments on Tuesday, totalling around USD 220 million

Singapore has eased by 0.30%, while Taipei and Jakarta are just 0.05% lower, and Kuala Lumpur is down 0.10%. Bangkok is 0.05% higher with Manila closed for a public holiday. Similarly, Australian markets are also subdued ahead of New Year, the ASX 200 and All Ordinaries edging 0.10% lower. Asia, ex-China, looks to have closed their books for the year.

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