Asian Stock Markets Unevenly Higher on Omicron Outlook

Asian stock markets moved unevenly higher Thursday, as traders awaited fresh news regarding the omicron variant of COVID-19, but followed Wall Street cues. Hong Kong and Shanghai pressed forward, although Tokyo declined on profit-taking. Other regional exchanges were largely higher, although Sydney slipped on reports of new COVID-19 cases in Australia.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly but declined 0.5% by the close, as traders locked in gains after two days of upswings on fading concerns regarding the omicron variant on the COVID-19 virus.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 135.15 to 28,725.47, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 173 to 49.

In other news, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the House of Representatives on Wednesday that his administration would enable local governments to provide a 100,000-yen ($881) handout to households for each child entirely in cash, instead of supplying half the amount in coupons for use at stores. The payments are part of the government stimulus package in light of the COVID-19 suppressed economy.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index opened higher and held ground, finishing up 1.1% as traders bought back into property and tech shares beaten down by weeks of weakness on concerns regarding Beijing's credit and regulatory outlooks. But the People's Bank of China this week reduced bank reserve requirements, sending a signal that monetary accommodation may resume.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 257.99 to 24,254.86, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 50 to 10. The Hang Seng TECH Index rose 2.2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 3.3%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 1% to 3,673.04.

In economic news, China producer prices rose 12.9% in November from a year earlier, while consumer prices rose 2.3%, reported the National Bureau of Statistics. The People's Bank of China has an annual consumer price inflation target of about 3%.

On the other exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.9%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.5%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.4%, and the Thai Set was flat. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.3%.