Asian stocks advance, set for first annual gain

Seoul - Asian equities climbed for a third straight session on the last trading day of the year as Japanese stocks trimmed losses as the yen weakened.

A gauge of Australian shares retreated from the highest close since July 2015.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2% at 3:02 in Hong Kong. The gauge has risen 2.3% in 2016, set for first annual gain since 2013.

Half of the 10 best performers of the year in the region were materials companies, with Indonesia’s Adaro Energy rising 230%.

US stocks ended Thursday’s session little changed after data showed jobless claims declined.

"Asian markets could see another day of mixed performances on the final trading day of the year with little inspiration for price direction," said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG Asia.

"The market is likely to be re-positioning for the New Year with US markets and that could place some pressure on markets that have underperformed lately."

Thailand’s Stock Exchange of Thailand SET Index has soared 20% in 2016; Indonesia’s Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index has jumped 16%, while Taiwan’s Taiex rose 11%.

The worst performers were Chinese stocks - the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index tumbled 12% and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Composite Index sank 11%.

Summary

Shanghai Composite +0.2% and Shenzhen Composite +0.4%; Hong Kong’s HSCEI +1%; Hang Seng +1% West Texas Intermediate crude +0.5%, heading for its first annual gain in three years Australia’s S&P ASX 200 -0.6%; Taiwan’s Taiex +1.1%; Singapore’s Straits Times +0.3%.

Sensex +1% South Korea, Philippines closed "I think what’s certain in markets is that we can see that economic activity is actually improving, and the US economy is operating at full capacity, and inflation is increasing across the board," James Cheo, investment strategist at Bank of Singapore, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday.’

"Inflation is going to be an important theme for 2017."

For more Asia stock markets news: Southeast Asia’s Best Stock Has More Room to Rise on Cost Cuts Chinese IPOs Post Record 392% Gains as Rest of Market Languishes Taiwan Plans to Cut Same-Day Trading Transactions Tax by Half.