AFP, Hong Kong :
Asia stocks were down Tuesday in thin end-of-year trading, following a subdued lead from the US as investors took profits.
Wall Street on Monday had its worst day in nearly a month, falling from record highs after the extended rally of recent days.
Hong Kong and Shanghai were both marginally lower in early Asian trade.
Taipei was also off and Sydney shed more than one percent. Jakarta, Tokyo, Manila, Seoul and Bangkok were all closed for a public holiday.
“While market volumes are predictably light, investors continue to strike a year-end cautionary tone as December optimism is gradually giving way to 2020’s uncertainty,” Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.
Asian investors are also watching for key policy announcements early in the New Year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is set to give his New Year’s speech on Wednesday, with all eyes on nuclear-armed Pyongyang’s threat of a “new way” after its end-of-year deadline for sanctions relief from the US, analysts said.
China’s Xi Jinping is also scheduled to give a New Year’s address.
In China, the closely-watched Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a key gauge of activity in the country’s factories, was at 50.2 in December, according to official data published Tuesday.
Asia stocks were down Tuesday in thin end-of-year trading, following a subdued lead from the US as investors took profits.
Wall Street on Monday had its worst day in nearly a month, falling from record highs after the extended rally of recent days.
Hong Kong and Shanghai were both marginally lower in early Asian trade.
Taipei was also off and Sydney shed more than one percent. Jakarta, Tokyo, Manila, Seoul and Bangkok were all closed for a public holiday.
“While market volumes are predictably light, investors continue to strike a year-end cautionary tone as December optimism is gradually giving way to 2020’s uncertainty,” Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.
Asian investors are also watching for key policy announcements early in the New Year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is set to give his New Year’s speech on Wednesday, with all eyes on nuclear-armed Pyongyang’s threat of a “new way” after its end-of-year deadline for sanctions relief from the US, analysts said.
China’s Xi Jinping is also scheduled to give a New Year’s address.
In China, the closely-watched Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a key gauge of activity in the country’s factories, was at 50.2 in December, according to official data published Tuesday.
