2015 Comes To An Undramatic Finish

Asian markets ended the final trading day of 2015 with unexciting results as investors continued to watch oil prices for further clues going into 2016.

The Japanese and South Korean markets remain closed Thursday and stock markets in Hong Kong and Singapore will also shut earlier than usual. On Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 rounded off a 9.3 percent gain for 2015.

The Australian market, which closed early, shed over 2 percent for the year as lower commodity prices hit many stocks on the main index and Chinese markets were mostly down as both the Shanghai and the Shenzhen Composite ended in the red. Despite its negative finish on Thursday, the Shenzhen Composite remained the region’s best performer with year-to-date gains of 63.2 percent. The index, relatively less known than the Shanghai Composite, boasts smaller companies covering new-economy sectors such as healthcare, Internet and technology, compared to Shanghai’s state-owned giants.

US Stocks Lower

U.S. stocks finished lower Wednesday as oil prices dropped sharply following a rise in U.S. crude inventories. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 117.24 points, or 0.7%, lower at 17,603.74, while the S&P 500 index closed down 15.01 points, or 0.7%, at 2,063.35.

The Nasdaq Composite index was off 42.09 points, or 0.8%, to end at 5,065.85. A new slump in West Texas Intermediate crude-oil futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange which settled down 3.4% to $36.60 a barrel brought some optimism for investors with only one trading day remaining in the year.

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Author: Travis Esquivel

Travis Esquivel is an engineer, passionate soccer player and full-time dad. He enjoys writing about innovation and technology from time to time.

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