Asia-Pacific Markets Mostly Lower

On Thursday, major stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region predominantly traded lower. This downturn follows the revelation that China's factory activity expanded at a slower-than-anticipated pace in December, barely surpassing the neutral 50 mark.

Significant Index Movements

Hong Kong's Hang Seng saw a notable decrease of 2.30% by 3:12 am CET. Meanwhile, on the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite experienced declines of 0.45% and 0.35%, respectively. In contrast, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 managed a slight increase of 0.32% by 3:14 am CET. South Korea's Kospi Composite was down by 0.17% shortly thereafter. It's noteworthy that markets in Japan remained closed on both Thursday and Friday.

Currency Movements

In currency news, the dollar appreciated by 0.16% against the yen, trading at ¥157.4285 by 3:16 am CET.