Singapore city skyline on September 18, 2016.
Rustam Azmi | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Asian stocks traded mixed on Thursday as several major markets resumed trading after New Year’s Day holiday.
China’s Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for December fell to 50.5, missing economists’ forecast of 51.7 in a Reuters poll. PMI came in at 51.5 in November and 50.3 in October.
The fall in the PMI figure indicates the “pace of growth [had] eased since November and was marginal overall,” the report said.
“Exports dragged on demand amid mounting uncertainties stemming from the overseas economic environment and global trade,” said Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group.
The official PMI for December, released Tuesday, came in at 50.1 and missed expectations.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 1.61% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 2.18%.
South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.12%, while the Kosdaq added 0.86%, after opening one hour later than usual, due to an opening ceremony for the new year.
Rhee Chang-yong, the country’s central bank governor, said in a New Year’s speech released Thursday that monetary policy will be “managed with flexibility and agility” given the “unprecedented rise in political and economic uncertainties.
The Bank of Korea, which has delivered back-to-back rate cuts — a first since 2009 — is set to to announce its next interest rate decision later this month.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.41%. Markets in Japan will remain closed for the rest of this week.
Traders in Asia also assessed Singapore’s gross domestic product data. Based on advance estimates, the economy expanded by 4.3% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2024, slower than the 5.4% growth in the previous quarter.
The advance GDP estimates are compiled based mostly on data in the first two months of the quarter and are subject to revision when more data become available, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The annual economic growth in 2024 accelerated to 4%, compared with 1.1% in 2023, according to official data released Thursday.
U.S. stock futures were little changed as traders geared up for a fresh year, after all three major indexes logged double-digit annual gains in 2024.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.06%, Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 0.17%.
The S&P 500 recorded an annual gain of over 20% for a second straight year, jumping 23.31% last year, building on a gain of 24.2% in 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 12.88% while the Nasdaq was up by 28.64%.
—CNBC’s Christina Cheddar Berk contributed to this report.
