Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Wednesday trade after major indexes on Wall Street snapped their multi-day winning streaks overnight. Meanwhile, the dollar weakened against other major currencies.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 backed off 123.98 points, or 0.5%, to 27,444.17. The Japanese yen traded at 103.30 per U.S. dollar, having strengthened from levels above 103.8 against the greenback seen earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index leaped 578.62 points, or 2.2%, to 27,147.11.
Wednesday was the final trading day in 2020 for stocks in Japan and South Korea as their markets will be closed on Thursday.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7657, following a bounce this week from around the $0.756 level.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 regained 70.77 points, or 4.4%, to 5,113.71
China’s 2019 Gross Domestic Product growth was revised downward to 6.0%, according to a statement released Wednesday by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics. That compared against a pre-revision 2019 growth rate of 6.1%.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index restocked 52.96 points, or 1.9%, to 2,869.22
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index surged 215.65 points, or 1.5%, to 14,687.70.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index moved up 21.08 points, or 0.7%, to 2,873.47.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dropped 29.63 points, or 0.2%, to 13,217.14.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 17.88 points, or 0.3%, to 6,682.43
