SINGAPORE — Shares in Australia dipped in Thursday morning trade, as multiple markets in Asia-Pacific are set to close early for New Year’s Eve.
The S&P/ASX 200 dipped about 0.1% in early trading on Thursday.
Markets in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong are set to close earlier than usual on Thursday due to New Year’s Eve.
Markets in Japan and South Korea are closed on Thursday for a holiday.
On the coronavirus front, the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca received authorization on Wednesday for emergency use in the U.K. Still, the U.K. government outlined plans on Wednesday to impose stricter coronavirus restrictions on millions of people across England as a new strain of the virus spreads across the country.
Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 73.89 points 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 marked the fourth positive session in five for both the Dow and S&P 500.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 89.604.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.16 per dollar, having strengthened from levels above 103.8 against the greenback earlier this week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7689 following a rise from levels below $0.76 seen earlier in the trading week.
Source: CNBC