SINGAPORE – Australian stocks fell Thursday morning as several Asia Pacific markets close early on New Years Eve.
The S & P / ASX 200 was down about 0.5% on Thursday.
The markets in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong will close earlier than usual on Thursday for New Year’s Eve.
The markets in Japan and South Korea are closed on Thursday for public holidays.
Regarding the coronavirus, the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca received emergency approval in the UK on Wednesday. Still, the UK government on Wednesday outlined plans to impose stricter coronavirus restrictions on millions of people across England as the new strain of the virus spreads across the country.
On Wall Street overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 73.89 points to close at 30,409.56. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to end its trading day at 3,732.04 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to close at 12,870. Wednesday’s moves were the fourth positive session in five for both the Dow and S&P 500.
Currencies
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its peers, hit 89.612 after falling over 90 recently.
The Japanese yen was trading at 103.13 per dollar after strengthening above 103.8 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.77 after rising below $ 0.76 at the start of the trading week.
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