Happy New Year!

Asian equity markets ended the week and the year on a positive note though South Korea was closed for early New Year's celebrations, and the Philippines was ...

Shanghai, Shenzhen, and the STAR Board converged to close +0.51%, +0.37%, and -0.24%, respectively, on volume that fell -1.67% from yesterday, which is 65% of the 1-year average. CNY had a strong day versus the US dollar, gaining +0.95% to close at 6.90 CNY per USD, the treasury curve flattened slightly, and copper fell -0.3%. The Hang Seng and Hang Seng Tech indexes gained +0.2% and +0.52%, respectively, on volume that fell -4.11% from yesterday, which is 70% of the 1-year average. The top-performing sectors were real estate, which gained +2.67%, industrials, which gained +1.08%, and tech, which gained +0.91%. The uptrend in traffic is firmly in place, while subway usage comes back slower. According to Bloomberg’s poll of economists, China’s GDP is forecasted to be 4.8% and its CPI 2.3%, while the US’ GDP forecast is 0.3% and CPI 4%. Main Board short selling turnover declined -13.63% from yesterday, which is 67% of the 1-year average as 17% of turnover was short turnover. All sectors were positive as utilities gained +2.15%, financials gained +1.82%, and consumer staples gained +1.73%. Mainland China posted small gains on little news, as all sectors were up for the day. The top-performing subsectors were media, food/staples, and insurance, while retail, food/beverage/tobacco, and pharmaceuticals were among the worst-performing. Hong Kong managed a small gain, though internet stocks did not gain nearly as much as their US-listed counterparts did yesterday. Meanwhile, outbound international travel from China appears to have picked up again.