Asia's Mixed Market Performance Ahead of the New Year; Singapore's GDP Growth Soars

Asian stock markets displayed a mixed response on Thursday as significant exchanges resumed trading after the New Year's Day holiday. Investors are adjusting their strategies as they prepare for a new year of trading.

In China, the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for December recorded a decline to 50.5. This figure fell short of economists' expectations, which had predicted a reading of 51.7 according to a Reuters poll. In contrast, November's PMI was recorded at 51.5, while October showed a further dip at 50.3.

The recent decrease in PMI suggests that the growth pace has slowed slightly since November, showing only marginal progress. Economists from Caixin noted softer sales and decreasing export orders contributing to this trend.

Additionally, the official PMI data released for December also missed forecasts, landing at 50.1.

On the stock exchanges, Mainland China's CSI 300 saw a decrease of 0.48%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped by 1.75%. Conversely, South Korea’s Kospi index increased by 0.34%, and the Kosdaq surged by 1.23% after a delayed market opening due to a New Year ceremony.

Rhee Chang-yong, the central bank governor of South Korea, in his New Year address, highlighted that monetary policies will be adjusted with flexibility in response to the current political and economic uncertainties. The Bank of Korea has implemented consecutive interest rate cuts, marking the first time since 2009, and is expected to reveal its next interest rate decision later this month.

Meanwhile, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.35%. It's worth noting that markets in Japan remained closed for both Thursday and Friday.

Investors also took time to analyze Singapore's latest GDP statistics. According to advance estimates, Singapore's economy grew by 4.3% year-on-year for the fourth quarter of 2024, a decline from the 5.4% growth reported in the previous quarter. These advance GDP figures, which are primarily based on data from the first two months of the quarter, may be subject to revision with the release of more comprehensive data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Overall, Singapore's annual economic growth in 2024 spiked to 4%, which is a significant increase from the 1.1% growth recorded in 2023.

In the United States, stock futures showed little variation as traders prepared for the new trading year. All three major indexes had impressive double-digit gains in 2024. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained stable, while S&P 500 futures edged up by 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed by 0.17%.

The S&P 500 has displayed remarkable performance, achieving an annual gain exceeding 20% for the second consecutive year, with a jump of 23.31% last year, following a 24.2% increase in 2023. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a gain of 12.88%, whereas the Nasdaq rose by 28.64%.

Asia, Markets, Growth