SET index up 5.13 points amid mixed year-end
ASIAN shares were mixed on the last trading day of the year, tracking a weak lead from Wall Street, with Hong Kong in the lead.
In Thailand, the SET Index closed at 1,542.94, up 5.13 points from Thursday, with trading value of Bt38.68 billion. Foreign investors net-bought Bt2.94 billion worth.
Agence France-Presse reported that Tokyo retreated again yesterday despite Toshiba shares ending their three-day free fall, but Hong Kong rallied as Asian markets brought down the curtain on a volatile year.
With Wall Street inching back further from breaching the historic 20,000 barrier, the Nikkei fell for a third day, dropping 0.2 per cent, while the yen lost ground against the US dollar.
Despite yesterday’s fall, Japan’s benchmark index rose 0.42 per cent in 2016, marking the fifth consecutive annual increase, with the market clawing back losses earlier in the year after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
“Trump was a game changer,” said Hisao Matsuura, chief strategist at Nomura Securities.
Hong Kong advanced 1 per cent, with the Hang Seng Index ending the year marginally up. Australian stocks finished 0.6 per cent down, paring the year’s gain to 7 per cent. Seoul was closed for a holiday.
Shanghai recorded a rise of 0.2 per cent but stocks in the world’s second-largest economy have endured a torrid year, down more than 12 per cent as the market was buffeted by feckless policymakers, massive capital flight and a languishing currency.
The falling yuan – lowered 7 per cent by the People’s Bank of China over the year in the face of a surging dollar – has driven investors abroad in search of better performance.
While the London Stock Exchange is ending the year at record levels, Britain has been rocked by the shock vote to leave the European Union in June, with sterling the year’s second-worst performer among major currencies, beaten only by the Mexican peso.
Oil also bounced back this year, with West Texas Intermediate recovering from below US$30 per barrel to rise above $50. Its performance has been boosted by an Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) production-cut deal slated for January.
