Asia higher as year draws to close
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Taiwan's market is up about 32 percent for the year.
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(CNN) -- The reduced number of Asian markets that were open Wednesday traded higher, but volumes were light as investors took a holiday.
Taiwan and Hong Kong had the best gains of 0.4 percent.
Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed Wednesday and will not resume until after the New Year. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 put on more than 24 percent for the year, while in Seoul the Kospi rose 29 percent.
In Australia, stocks finished virtually flat in a shortened session. Gains in banking shares helped offset losses among miners.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index, already up almost 10 percent this year, finished 0.14 percent higher to 3,299.8. It was the best yearly gain for the index since 1999.
New Zealand's market closed for the day with the NZSX Top 50 up 0.34 percent to 2450.34, giving it a gain of 25.6 percent for the year.
Singapore and Taiwan traded for half-day sessions, as did Hong Kong.
Singapore's Straits Times index finished up just 0.04 percent to 1764.52, while Taiwan's Taiex ended 0.41 percent higher to 5890.69 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished up 0.39 percent to 12,575.94.
On the currency front, the dollar is lower at 106.88 yen in Asia late on Wednesday afternoon. The euro is continuing to strengthen to record levels, trading at $1.2569.
The Australian dollar is up 33 percent for the year against the dollar and is trading at 75.00 U.S. cents, near six-year highs.
In Australia, banking shares finished mostly higher, helped in part by an overall positive outlook for the Australian economy in the year ahead.
NAB rose 0.2 percent to A$29.95, ANZ advanced 0.6 percent to A$17.68 and CBA was steady at A$29.45.
Resources leader BHP Billiton closed down 0.5 percent to A$12.19 for a yearly gain of 20 percent. That came after BHP said the consortium of which it was part had reached a $191 million settlement with the builder of an underwater pipeline in the U.K.
Global miner Rio Tinto ended down 0.9 percent to A$37.20.
In Hong Kong, banking giant finished 0.8 percent higher at HK$122.50 Wednesday, giving it a gain for the year of almost 44 percent.
But telco PCCW lost 18 percent for the year, closing at HK$5.05.
In Singapore, leading bank DBS was down 0.7 percent to S$14.70 and SingTel finished up 0.5 percent to S$1.96.
Taiwan's biggest stock, chip foundry TSMC, rose 0.8 percent to T$63.50, giving it a gain of 61 percent for the year. UMC eased slightly, while Formosa Plastic put on 1.8 percent to T$56.00.
In New Zealand, Telecom finished 1.3 percent higher at NZ$5.37, giving the market's biggest stock a gain of 18.5 percent for the year.
Wall Street finished with a mixed performance Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.2 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq put on 0.2 percent to 2009.88. (Full story)
