The MSCI Asia Pacific regional index (excluding Japan) rose by 0,4%, driven by the Chinese Stock Exchange, where the CSI300 index gained 1,9%, concluding a triumphant year after five years of stagnation. Today is a narrow-gauge day, with markets closed in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines, and with early closures in Singapore and Sydney.
The negative closure of Wall Street, where, on a (rare) day without new records, the Dow Jones lost 0,3%, did not dampen optimism. Nor did the confirmation of a Chinese PMI below 50 (the HSBC-Markit index scored 49,6) stop prices in Shanghai. Wall Street futures for today are slightly positive (+0,2%).
The euro is stable at 1,216, while the yen has strengthened against the dollar since the government's decision to reduce the corporate tax.
Oil, which had recovered yesterday, lost again more than 1% and the price of WTI crude stands at 53,6 $/b. Brent at 57,1. America's oil inventories data is due today and analysts are expecting the highest level since (in 1982) when these data were recorded.
Gold has returned to the 1200 level, an assault that is periodically attempted but has (so far) been rebuffed.
