AP – Global stocks were mixed yesterday after Wall Street snapped out of a spell of holiday season blues.
Germany’s DAX added 0.4 per cent lower, to 19,984.85, and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6 per cent to 7,324.36. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2 per cent to 8,212.70.
The future for the S&P 500 was 0.3 per cent higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent.
Japan’s finance minister rang in the New Year as Tokyo’s market resumed trading after the long traditional holiday, as staff in suits and kimonos clapped for good fortune in 2025.
“The Japanese government will act to secure economic growth led by wage increases and investment,” Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said, vowing to “grasp signs of recovery” and to ensure that “every single citizen can feel the improvement in their salaries”.
The prevailing sentiment in much of Asia has been caution over potential changes by President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to sharply raise tariffs on imports from China and other countries, potentially denting growth for a region heavily reliant on trade.
Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 1.5 per cent to 39,307.05, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 0.4 per cent to 19,677.37.
The Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1 per cent to 3,206.92.
Markets shrugged off a report that China’s services economy grew at its fastest pace in seven months in December, while export businesses declined, according to a private sector survey. The index rose to 52.2 in December, surpassing the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.
Elsewhere in Asia, the mood was lighter. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1 per cent to 8,257.40 and Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 2.8 per cent.
In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 1.9 per cent to 2,488.64, driven by a 9.8-per-cent increase in computer chip maker SK Hynix Inc and a 2.8-per-cent jump in shares in Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest company.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rallied 1.3 per cent to 5,942.47, reaching its first gain since the holidays and its best day in nearly two months. Strength for Big Tech stocks helped it break a five-day losing streak, its longest since April, and trim its loss for the week to 0.5 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 per cent to 42,732.13, and the Nasdaq composite leaped 1.8 per cent to 19,621.68.
