Asian stock markets closed without common direction on Wednesday, with lower trading volume due to the Christmas holiday. In China, stocks advanced, with the benchmark Shanghai index posting its sixth consecutive session of gains, reflecting the strength of the regional market at the end of a year of strong gains driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.14% to 50,344.10 points and, in South Korea, the Kospi index fell 0.21% to 4,108.62 points. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.17% to 25,818.93 points. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.53 percent to 3,940.94 points, its sixth consecutive rise and the longest streak of gains since July.
Global investors are increasing their bets on Chinese artificial intelligence companies, betting on the next DeepSeek and seeking to diversify their portfolios, as concerns grow about a speculative bubble in the sector on Wall Street. Since the start of the year, the Shanghai stock index is up 17.6%.
“We expect the upward trend to continue, but at a slower pace,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. They predict Chinese stocks will rise 38% by the end of 2027.
Additionally, US President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Tuesday that it would impose tariffs on Chinese semiconductor imports due to Beijing’s “unreasonable” desire to dominate the chip sector, but would delay the move until June 2027.
In Hong Kong, the technology index gained 0.19%. The Hong Kong market was closed on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and will remain closed on Thursday and Friday due to the Christmas holiday. Trading will resume on December 29.
Finally, in Japan, the yen appreciated for the third consecutive session, in a context of risk of intervention by the Japanese authorities. The dollar fell 0.3% to 155.83 yen, moving away from the 158 yen area that had prompted interventions in the past.
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