Asian Shares End 2015 On Lackluster Note

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on the final trading day of 2015 as a renewed slide in oil prices weighed on energy stocks and worries about slowing growth in China kept investors nervous. Stock markets in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand closed early today for New Year's Eve. Markets in Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand were closed for holidays.

Global economic growth will be "disappointing" and "uneven" next year, the chief of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday.

She said that the rising interest rates in the United States, the economic slowdown in China, the persistent fragility of the financial system in a number of countries and the effects of low oil prices contributed to uncertainty and helped slow worldwide growth.

Oil prices rose slightly in Asian deals on bargain hunting after plunging more than 3 percent overnight, as Saudi Arabia reiterated its commitment to keep pumping oil and data showed an increase in U.S. crude supplies.

Tepid cues from Wall Street also forced investors to adopt a cautious stance. The Dow and the S&P 500 dropped about 0.7 percent each in low volume trade overnight and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.8 percent, as the sharp fall in oil prices dragged down energy stocks and downbeat housing data stirred some concerns about the state of the economy.

China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 33.69 points or 0.94 percent to 3,539.18 in thin volume as the yuan slipped to a 4-1/2-year low against the dollar. The benchmark index climbed 9.4 percent this year despite losing as much as 43 percent of its value over the northern summer. Shares were up more than 20 percent from this year's low in late August.

China's Shenzhen Composite, which boasts smaller companies covering new-economy sectors, was the region's best performer with gains exceeding 63 percent for the year.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 32.25 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 21,914.40 in a shortened trading session. For the year, the index finished down nearly 7 percent after peaking at about 28,000 in April. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index lost 19 percent this year.

The Japanese market is closed until next week. The Nikkei index climbed 9.1 percent in 2015, beating a 7.1 percent rise in 2014, as a weak yen on the back of a strengthening U.S. economy and the Bank of Japan's asset purchases bolstered earnings for exporters.

The South Korean market also remained closed today. The benchmark Kospi average gained 2.4 percent for the year despite pressure from a weakening yen and yuan as well as the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in June. Korea's financial markets will resume trading on Monday, at 0100 GMT, one hour later than usual.

Australian shares ended a shortened session in the red as material and energy stocks struggled amid further declines in commodity prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended down 24 points or 0.45 percent at 5,295.9, finishing the year down a little over 2 percent in the wake of fears over China's slowdown and tightening capital requirements for banks.

New Zealand shares ended barely changed on the last day of the year after hitting successive record highs recently. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 4.87 points or 0.08 percent to 6,324.26, taking this year's gains to a whopping 13.6 percent. The index has been making successive record highs during the past two weeks, as dairy prices rebounded and investors faced with low interest rates on fixed-income securities chased stocks with the highest yields.

Indian and Malaysian shares were little changed in choppy trade and the Taiwan Weighted rose 0.7 percent, while Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.1 percent. Malaysia's producer price index dipped 3.0 percent year-over-year in November, following a 2.6 percent drop in October, official data showed.

Singapore's benchmark index was down 14 percent for the year, making it Asia's worst performing market. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index dropped 12 percent amid the slump in oil and a strong greenback after Fed rate hike.

Thailand's SET fell about 14 percent and Taiwan's Taiex dropped 11 percent in 2015, while India's Sensex was down more than 5 percent, heading for its first annual drop in four years.

Elsewhere, the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 7.3 percent until Wednesday this year as the European Central Bank boosted stimulus to counter deflation. The S&P 500 held onto modest 0.2 percent gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is in negative territory for 2015, while the Nasdaq rose about 7 percent until Wednesday.