SINGAPORE – Shares in Australia fell on Thursday morning as several markets in the Asia-Pacific closed on New Year’s Eve.
The S & P / ASX 200 slipped about 0.5% in Thursday trading.
The markets in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong will close earlier than usual on Thursday due to New Year’s Eve.
Markets in Japan and South Korea closed for a holiday on Thursday.
On the coronavirus front, the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca on Wednesday received permission for emergency use in the UK. Yet the British government on Wednesday set out plans to impose stricter coronavirus restrictions on millions of people across England as a new species spreads the virus across the country.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average averaged 73.89 points overnight on Wall Street 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 climbed 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 against a basket of its peers, was at 89,612 after a recent decline in levels above 90.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.13 per dollar, rising from levels above 103.8 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at 0.77 dollars after a rise in levels below $ 0.76 seen earlier in the trading week.