Workers assemble loader transmission mechanisms at a manufacturer in Qingzhou, China.
Noor Photos | Noor Photos | Getty Images
Australian shares opened lower on the final trading day of the year, while Asian investors awaited manufacturing data from China.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.56% in the shortened trading day.
Japanese and South Korean stock markets were closed for the New Year’s Eve holiday. South Korea’s consumer inflation accelerated in December, Annual growth of 1.9%. The CPI in November was 1.5%. A month-on-month increase of 0.4%.
Traders will focus on China’s manufacturing PMI for December. Analysts polled by Reuters expected the value to be 50.3, the same as the November PMI. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in economic activity, while a reading below that level indicates a contraction.
Hong Kong stock market will Trading days shortened.
Overnight, U.S. stocks traded lower on the final trading day of 2024, as what investors considered a great year appeared to be ending on a sour note.
Trading was volatile throughout the day, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 700 points, hitting a session low. There is no obvious news catalyst for Monday’s decline, and thin trading is expected given the shortened week
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 418.48 points, or 0.97%, to close at 42,573.73 points. The S&P 500 fell 1.07% to 5,906.94 points; the Nasdaq fell 1.19% to 19,486.78 points.
—CNBC’s Jesse Pond and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
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