Asian Stocks Close Mixed After Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, mostly on thin volumes as traders stayed away on the sidelines ahead of Christmas holidays. Most of the markets in the region closed early today.

In the Australian market, financials stocks traded weak, while materials shares found some support.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index settled down by 33 points or 0.38% at 8,762.70. The broader All Ordinaries index closed lower by 27.20 points or 0.3% at 9,069.00.

Treasury Wine, PLS Group, Linontown, Lendlease, Capston Copper and Nickel Industries posted strong gains.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corporation, ANZ Group Holdings, CSL and National Australia Bank closed weak.

The Japanese market's Nikkei 225 ended down by 54.87 points or 0.11% at 50,358.00, failing to hold early gains.

Possibility of more rate hikes by the Japanese central bank weighed on stocks.

The minutes of the Bank of Japan's October meeting showed policymakers debated the need to continue raising interest rates to levels deemed neutral to the economy with some arguing doing so would help achieve long-term, stable growth.

Dainippon Screen Manufacturing soared 10%. Sumitomo Metals surged more than 7%, while Dowa Holdings, Sapporo Holdings and Mitsubishi Materials gained 3.5 to 4%.

Panasonic, Advantes Corp., Furukawa Electricals, Resona Holdings and Ebara Corp. were among the other prominent gainers.

TDK, MS&AD Insurance Group, Okuma Corp., Resona Holdings, Ricoh, Nexon, Sony, Tokyo Electric Power, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Japan Airlines and Yamaa Corp settled sharply lower.

Chines stocks closed modestly higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite gained 20.97 points or 0.53%, settling at 3,940.95.

Shares from healthcare, construction, retail, technology and R&D companies found support, while consumer staples, industrials, travels, energy and media stocks showed weakness.

Hong Kong's Hang Sensex settled with a gain of 44.79 points or 0.17% at 25,818.94.

South Korea's KOSPI ended down by 8.70 points or 0.21% at 4,108.62.

Data from the Bank of South Korea showed consumer confidence in South Korea decreased to 109.90 points in December from 112.40 points in November.

New Zealand's NZX 50 gained 11.33 points or 0.08 to 13,529.06, while Malaysian and Singaporean benchmarks drifted down by 0.13% and 0.06%, respectively.