Asian Markets Exhibit Mixed Trend

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are exhibiting a mixed trend on Thursday, though volumes were light as most of the markets were closed for the Christmas holiday. Among the markets that are open, the Japanese market is lower, snapping a five-day winning streak, while the Shanghai market is in positive territory.

The Japanese stock market opened lower on Thursday, ending five straight sessions of gains, after the yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is currently losing 36.37 points or 0.20 percent to 17,817.86, after declining to 17,778.32 in early trades.

Among the major exporters, Toshiba is declining 0.41 percent, Nikon Corp. is down 1.5 percent, Toyota Motor (TM) is trading lower by 0.37 percent and Honda Motor (HMC) is edging down 0.05 percent. However, Canon (CAJ) is adding 0.24 percent.

Sony Corp. (SNE) is down 0.8 percent. The company reversed course on Tuesday and said it will release "The Interview" in selected theatres on Christmas Day. The movie depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Troubled autoparts supplier Takata Corp., which is grappling with the issue of faulty air bags, said that its president and chief operating officer Stefan Stocker will step down. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Shigehisa Takada will take over Stocker's responsibilities. Stocker will remain with the company as a board member.

According to media reports, Sapporo Holdings and Toyota Tsusho will jointly acquire U.S. juice maker Country Pure Foods for an estimated $100 million. Shares of Sapporo Holdings are down 0.18 percent, while Toyota Tsusho Corp. is gaining 0.48 percent.

Among the other major gainers, Minebea is gaining 2.2 percent and Konami Corp. is up 2.1 percent. Nissan Chemical Industries, MEIJI Holdings, NH Foods and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial are higher in a range of 1.3 percent to 1.9 percent.

Meanwhile, Kansai Electric Power is losing 3.3 percent, Inpex Corp is down 1.9 percent and Konica Minolta is declining 1.8 percent. Comsys Holdings, Sumitomo heavy Industries, Unitika and JX Holdings are down in a range of 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 120 yen-range on Thursday. In early trades, the dollar was quoted in a range of 120.39 to 120.41 yen, down from 120.41 to 120.43 yen at close on Wednesday.

On the economic front, the Bank of Japan will on Thursday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on November 18 and 19. At the meeting, the board kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the record low of 0 to 0.10 percent. It also voted to maintain the annual pace of increase in the monetary base at about 80 trillion yen.

Japan also will see November results for corporate service prices, construction orders and annualized housing starts.

Many of the other regional bourses are closed on Thursday for the Christmas holiday, including Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, India and Indonesia.

Among the other markets that are open, Shanghai is higher by almost 2 percent, while Taiwan is marginally lower.

On Wall Street, stocks gave back ground going into the close of trading on Wednesday, after seeing modest strength for much of the session partly due to the release of a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended December 20.

The Dow inched up 6.04 points or 0.03 percent to 18,030.21, while the Nasdaq rose 8.05 points or 0.2 percent to 4,773.47. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 slipped into the red in the final minutes of trading, edging down 0.29 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,081.88.

Meanwhile, the European markets turned in a mixed performance, with several markets closed for the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index inched up by 0.2 percent, the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

U.S. crude oil ended sharply lower on Wednesday, having jumped over three percent the previous day, after a report from the Energy Information Administration showed crude oil stockpiles in the U.S. to have risen more than expected last week.

Crude oil futures for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, declined $1.28 or 2.2 percent to close at $55.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday.