Asian stocks end 2016 on an upbeat note
Asia Pacific share market ended mixed in thin pre-holiday trading on final trading day of 2016 (Friday, 30 December 2016), tracking a weak lead from Wall Street overnight. But, Asian stocks looked set to end 2016 on an upbeat note, with the benchmark headed for its first annual gain in three years, while the dollar reversed earlier losses and oil was poised to record its biggest gains in seven years.
In a year marked by major political shocks, including Brexit in June and the unexpected election of Donald Trump as U.S. president in November, Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks were poised to record a 3.8% gain.
For the year, China's Shenzhen composite was Asia's worst-performing index, down nearly 15%, while Pakistan's Karachi All-Share Index was the biggest winner with gains of 45%. Thailand's SET Index has soared 20% in 2016, meanwhile Indonesia's Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index has jumped 16% and Taiwan's Taiex rose 11%. Japan's Nikkei eked out a modest 0.4% gain. India's Sensex has gained 1.95% in calendar year 2016. Australia's ASX 200 ended the year with a 7% gain, while New Zealand's benchmark index closed out 2016 with a near 9% gain. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished 2016 with a 0.4% rise.
Among Asian bourses
Australia Market ends down
Australian share market ended down on last trading session of calendar year 2016, pulled down by poor performances in financial and basic material stocks, but having their best quarter this year and their best yearly run since 2013. At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index declined 3.30 points, or 0.58%, to 5665.80, while the broader All Ordinaries index dropped 27.60 points, or 0.48%, to close at 5719.10. On the year, the Australian index gained 4.2%.
Shares of gold miners rallied after the precious metal notched up its fourth day of gains, its longest winning streak in over three months. Newcrest Mining advanced 5.1%, while smaller peers Evolution Mining jumped 10%.
Mining stocks were down as investors took the opportunity to cash in on recent gains after as the iron ore price slipped a little on Thursday night to $US80.43/tonne. The big diversified miners such as BHP and Rio Tinto traded lower by 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively, while Fortescue shed 1.7%.
Oil producers came under selling pressure after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Thursday that crude stockpiles grew 614,000 barrels, confounding earlier expectations for a 1.4-million-barrel decline. The EIA report contributed to light, sweet crude for February delivery settling down 29 cents, or 0.5%, at US$53.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For Brent, the global benchmark, the front-month February contract expired at settlement. The more-actively-traded March contract lost 11 cents, or 0.19%, to US$56.85 a barrel. Woodside Petroleum dropped 1.8%, while Oil Search ended unchanged at A$7.17.
Nikki drop on weak Wall St, strong yen
The Japan share market closed lower in light trading, on taking its downward lead from the US overnight, but still hit a 20-year closing high for the final trading session of the calendar year 2016 on optimism over the incoming US government. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 30.77 points, or 0.16%, from Thursday at 19,114.37. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 0.22 points, or 0.01%, higher at 1,518.61. The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.42% at 19,114.37 in 2016, marking the fifth consecutive annual increase and highest year-end finish since 1996 when it ended at 19,361.35. The broader Topix index lost 1.85%, snapping four years of gains. The Japan financial market is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday after the long holiday weekend.
Japanese stocks have surged since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office, with the Nikkei hitting an almost two-decade high in June 2015, on hopes his Abenomics policies of monetary stimulus, fiscal expansion and structural reform would end decades of deflation and stagnation. Attention has since shifted to U.S. politics and economic growth, after President-elect Donald Trump's surprising victory last month.
Exporters stocks were down as the yen strengthened slightly against greenback. Among key Japanese exporters, Honda Motor dropped 0.8%, Nissan Motor fell 0.4% and Sony declined 0.7%.
Among individual movers - Shares in troubled Toshiba jumped 9.43% to 283.1 yen following a three-day bloodletting, losing some 40%, on over expectations of a massive one-time loss. The company this week warned of a possible loss of several billion dollars in its US nuclear business but said the exact figure had yet to be determined, which fuelled investor anxiety.
Auto parts maker Takata surged 21.21% to 857 yen, adding to a 16.47% jump the day before after news it is close to settling a US criminal probe into an exploding airbag scandal.
China Stocks rise slightly
Mainland China stock market saw a slight upturn on the last trading day of 2016, due to bargain buying on recently battered stocks, but this didn't help it to rebound from a loss of over 110% this year. The blue-chip CSI300 index, which tracks large companies in Shanghai or Shenzhen, rose 0.38% to 3,430.25, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.45% to 3,210.37 points. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, added 0.15% to 1,969.11. The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, jumped 0.14% to close at 1,962.06 points.
The CSI 300 Index ended the year with a 10.37% loss. The Shanghai Composite index ended trading 12.46% down in 2016, while the Shenzhen Composite tumbled 14.72% this year.
This was a major decline compared to the market's 2015 performance when the Shanghai Composite skyrocketed 60% in the first half before plummeting more than 40% in less than three months, nevertheless, it closed the year with an overall gain of 9.4%. After the fall, Beijing introduced a 'circuit breaker' mechanism in January 2016 to automatically stop trading if prices fell dramatically. It was used twice in one week before being scrapped.
Hong Kong Stocks up 0.96%
The Hong Kong stock market closed up on the last trading day of 2016, but the main indexes ended 2016 near where they started after a volatile 12 months. All sectors in Hong Kong gained ground on Friday, with the raw materials and services sectors among the best performers. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 209.65 points, or 0.96%, higher at 22,000.56. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, known as the H-shares index, added 82.11 points, 0.88%, to 9,394.87. For the whole year, the index gained 86 points. Turnover increased to HK$53.8 billion from HK$52.5 billion on Thursday.
Macau gaming players gained broadly after news reported that Macau is ready to launch the junket credit database next month. Galaxy Ent (00027) put on 2.27% to HK$33.8 while Wynn Macau (01128) climbed 1.31% to HK$12.34. MGM China (02282) shot up 8.94% to HK$16.08. SJM Holdings (00880) rose 3.05% to HK$6.08 while Sands China (01928) gained 1.66% to HK$33.7.
Lenovo (00992) gained 1.51% to HK$4.7 after Nomura maintained its "neutral" rating for the stock. For the whole year, Lenovo fell nearly 40%, making itself the top blue-chip loser.
Sensex, Nifty end 2016 trading with gains
Indian benchmark indices registered modest gains on the last trading day of the week and the calendar year 2016 on steady buying in index pivotals especially ITC and Infosys. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 260.31 points or 0.99% to settle at 26,626.46. The Nifty 50 index gained 82.20 points or 1.01% to settle at 8,185.80. Meanwhile, the Sensex has fallen 26.35 points or 0.1% in December 2016. It has gained 508.92 points or 1.95% in calendar year 2016.
Data showed that domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 957.83 crore yesterday, 29 December 2016, as per provisional data. The foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 662.29 crore yesterday, 29 December 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Yes Bank rose 0.65% after the bank said it has raised Rs 330 crore of Green Infrastructure Bonds through private placement. The tenure of the instrument is 7 years. The date of allotment is 29 December 2016 and the date of maturity is 29 December 2023. The interest offered is 7.62% per annum.
RS Software (India) rose 1.91% after the company said it made further investment in its wholly-owned subsidiary, Paypermint by acquiring 59 lakh equity shares for Rs 5.90 crore. RS Software (India) holds 75% stake in Paypermint.
GE Power India jumped 5.34% after the company said it has secured a contract worth about Rs 271.1 crore from Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) to supply components and services for the supercritical steam generator island packages.
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