A worker assembles the transfer mechanism of a loader at a manufacturer in Qingzhou, China.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The Australian market opened lower on the last trading day of the year, as investors in Asia awaited production data from China.
Australia S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.56% lower on the shortened trading day.
Stock markets in Japan and South Korea are closed for the New Year holidays. South Korea’s consumer inflation accelerated in December, growing by 1.9% annually. CPI was 1.5% in November. On a monthly basis, prices increased by 0.4%.
Traders will be watching China’s manufacturing PMI for December. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 50.3, the same as November’s PMI. A reading above 50 indicates an increase in activity, while a figure below that level indicates a decrease.
Hong Kong stock exchanges will have a shortened trading day.
Overnight in the US, stocks fell in one of the last trades of 2024, as what has been a major year for investors appears to be ending on a bad note.
Trading was choppy throughout the day, with the Dow down more than 700 points at session lows. There was no obvious news catalyst for Monday’s decline, and trading was expected to be light given the shortened week
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 418.48 points, or 0.97%, to close at 42,573.73. The S&P 500 fell 1.07% to 5,906.94, a Nasdaq Composite fell 1.19% to 19,486.78.
—CNBC’s Jesse Pound and Samantha Subin contributed to this report.
