A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks have fallen in the final day of 2014, cutting into the year’s gains as the Dow rose for the sixth year in a row.
At the closing bell on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17.823.07, down 160.00 points (0.89 per cent).
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 21.45 (1.03 per cent) to 2,058.90, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 41.39 (0.87 per cent) at 4,736.05.
Analysts said the trading session was prone to big swings because of light volume ahead of Thursday’s New Year’s holiday. The S&P 500 accumulated more than half its losses for the session in the last 25 minutes of trade.
“It’s just last-minute selling, year-end selling,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
“Because of the light volume, what’s happening is just a technical decline and no change in fundamentals.”
LONDON – Europe’s main stock markets rose on the last trading day of a tough year for the region’s equities against a backdrop of weak eurozone growth and plunging oil prices.
London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.29 per cent to end 2014 at 6,566.09 points – resulting in an annual loss of 2.71 per cent for the benchmark index.
London has been dragged down in recent months by low oil prices owing to the FTSE featuring a number of heavyweight energy companies, notably Shell and BP. Economic strains in China have additionally hit the index’s mining groups.
“The economic picture materialising out of China has seen a continuing cooling of its economy, not down to levels of Western nations but sufficiently low to see commodity stocks do some serious rescaling of their future expectations,” said Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG trading group.
Elsewhere in thin trading on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris climbed by 0.64 per cent to end at 4,272.75 points – resulting in the index falling 0.54 per cent in 2014.
Dealing on Frankfurt’s DAX 30 ended for the year on Tuesday, with the index rising by a modest 2.65 per cent in 2014 amid sluggish growth in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy.
HONG KONG – Asian markets were mixed in limited trade Wednesday as investors wound down on the last day of the year, while concerns about Greece’s political crisis kept the dollar and euro under pressure against the yen.
There was little reaction to confirmation from HSBC that its index of China’s manufacturing activity had contracted in December.
Hong Kong rose 0.44 per cent, or 103.94 points, to 23,605.04 – helping the Hang Seng Index to top off a turbulent year with a gain of 1.28 per cent.
Shanghai — the best regional performer by far this year – was up 0.68 per cent and more than 50 per cent higher over 12 months. Taipei was flat in late trade and Singapore edged up 0.12 per cent.
Tokyo, Jakarta, Manila, Seoul and Bangkok were closed for public holidays.
WELLINGTON – New Zealand shares fell in light holiday trading, following a mixed result on Asian markets.
The NZX 50 Index shed 0.16 per cent, or 8.91 points, to 5,568.28 – marking a surge of 17.55 per cent over the year.
