Updated throughout the day
December 30, 2015
A recovery in oil prices drove energy prices higher and lifted Australian markets on Wednesday. The S&P/ASX 200 was up 1% to 5319.90, with energy shares up 1.4%. The index has risen nearly 7% from a one-year low reached in mid-December, and its year-to-date loss is only 1.7% despite the carnage in the commodities markets. Japan’s market finished its last trading day of 2015 up 0.3% at 19,033.71, capping a 9.1% gain for the year, ranking as Asia’s best performer after China. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.3% higher on Wednesday and is heading for an annual rise of 10.5% despite the summer’s prolonged and deep sell-off. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.5% lower.
Markets were buttressed by the strong overnight performance in the U.S. and a spike in oil prices, then consolidated in thin trading. However, the MSCI Asia Pacific is set to lose 4.4% this year, with markets in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and India down the most in the region. Volumes are thinning further as the year draws to an end with some regional markets shutting early on Thursday and markets throughout the world closed on Friday for New Year’s Day.
Here’s what else you need to know:
Missouri floods close Mississippi near St Louis. A five-mile (8km) section of the Mississippi River has been closed to vessels as rising water levels caused “hazardous conditions,” the U.S. Coast Guard said. About 17 million people, mainly around this stretch of the Mississippi, are under flood warning in the U.S. The flooding came after severe storms over the Christmas holiday claimed at least 49 lives across southern and western states of the U.S. CNN, BBC
IMF: Global economic growth will disappoint in 2016. Managing director Christine Lagarde says the rising interest rates in the U.S. and the economic slowdown in China will make the world economy vulnerable next year. “Global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016,” wrote Lagarde in a German newspaper. Reuters
Apple to pay $348 million in Italy. Apple’s Italian subsidiary will pay to settle tax fraud allegations in the country. Italy says Apple failed to pay 880 million euros in taxes between 2008 and 2013. BBC
Islamic State issues rules for sex with captive women. IS theologians have issued a ruling or fatwa on when “owners” of women enslaved by the extremist group can have sex with them, in an apparent bid to curb what they called violations in the treatment of captured females. The United Nations and human rights groups have accused the IS of the systematic abduction and rape of thousands of women and girls as young as 12. Reuters
No year-end cheer for Noble Group. The share price of the Singapore-listed commodities trader dropped 4.6% after Moody’s Investors Services cut its credit rating to junk status. Shares in the firm, which has faced allegations of accounting irregularities, have fallen 64% this year. Financial Times (paywall)
Top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un killed in a car crash. State media report that Kim Yang-gon died in a traffic accident on Tuesday. Kim was a secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party and was in charge of ties with South Korea. BBC
China revises current account surplus lower. The country’s current-account surplus in the three months ended September was cut to $60.3 billion from an initial estimate of $63.4 billion, the country’s foreign-exchange regulator said. MarketWatch
Southeast Asia launches Asean Economic Community (AEC). After a decade-long process, 10 countries officially form a regional common market for capital, labor and goods and services on Thursday. It aims to create a trading bloc from diverse nations ranging from Singapore to Myanmar. The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
Macau casinos’ falling house of cards. Full-year gambling revenue in the Chinese territory is expected to have fallen by about a third compared with last year to $30 billion when leading operators report next week. Revenue in November was 16.43 billion patacas ($2.06 billion), the lowest monthly figure since 2010. The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
Warren Buffett faces worst year on stock market for six years. Shares in the investment guru’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway are down 11% this year with two more trading days to go. This would be their worst performance relative to the rest of the U.S. stock market since 2009 and comes after he told investors earlier this year that they should judge his record based on Berkshire’s share price, rather than the book value of the company, his preferred yardstick for decades. Financial Times (paywall)
You won’t believe this…
New record for Hong Kong property sale. An apartment in the bankers’ favorite Mid-levels residential area on Wednesday sold for HK$594 million, equivalent to HK$100,000 a square foot, shattering Asia’s previous record for a home property sale. South China Morning Post (paywall)
Fancy a cuppa with added zest? Italian police have ordered that a Peruvian coca tea be removed from shops, after tests found it contained an extra-boosting ingredient — cocaine. The discovery was made earlier this month after a 38-year old bus driver from Genoa named Roberto tested positive for the illegal stimulant following a routine drugs test. He regularly supped the brew to help keep awake on the job. The tea, called “delisse alla coca,” had been stocked in Italy for years. Telegraph (paywall)
Photo: Paul Townsend