The ASX 200 is down 3.6% on the month and almost certain to end December lower for the first time since 2019. It is now 5.7 percent in 2022 and on pace for its worst year since 2018. US stocks were supported by gains in technology bellwethers as traders prepare for the new year, with Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, which all suffered big losses in 2022, rising more than 2.5 percent during the day.

The S&P 500 rose 1.75 percent, reversing losses from the previous two days. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 2.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.05%. In commodity markets, Brent crude oil slipped 1.2 percent, to $US 82.26 to the barrel, and gold was up 0.61% at US$1,815.37.

Other local bond yields Australian 2 Year government bonds yields were 3.38%, while the 10 Year yield was 4.02%. On the international front, yield on 2 Year US Treasury notes slipped to 4.25%, whereas yield on 10 Year US Treasury notes was 4.13%. The Australian dollar was at 67.76 US cents, rising from 67.39 US closed on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, was last recently falling to 97.00.

Asia

Big Asian indexes closed lower. The Kospi in South Korea fell 1.9 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.8 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4 percent.

Chinese shares ended mixed in thin trading as investors scaled back optimism over China’s reopening, with property and telecom companies dragging on the market. Poly Developments & Holdings Group and China Vanke lost 2.3% apiece after earlier climbing. China Mobile fell 3.1% and China Unicom declined 2.0%. Retailers and drugmakers extended the reopening rally, which helped offset some declines among developers. Chongqing Department Store rose 4.2 percent and Shanghai Junshi Biosciences jumped 11 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.4% lower at 3073.70.

Shares in Hong Kong ended in negative territory, retreating from gains Wednesday, when that equity market hit a multi week high. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% to 19741.14. Electronics companies were one of the biggest drags after smartphone-component maker Sunny Optical fell 6.9% to be the index’s worst performer. Smartphone company Xiaomi and personal-computer maker Lenovo dropped 3.2% each. Chinese tech giants also dragged the market down, with the sector tracking losses in U.S. growth stocks on Wall Street overnight. JD.com dropped 5.4% and NetEase slid 2.9%.

Shares in Japan fell, with lower shares of retailers and shippers weighing, as doubts remained over the global economic outlook in a climate of high inflation. Fast Retailing dropped 3.0% while major shipper Mitsui O.S.K. Lines slid 2.8%. 国际日烟(Japan Tobacco)腾空跌9%，Inpex出局后普跌3.7%. The Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.9% to 26093.67.

Europe

European shares rose in quiet trade, as investors clung to hopes that the Federal Reserve might ease its aggressive policy stance after data pointed to some cooling in the U.S. labor market.

The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7 percent, while Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent, the German DAX rose 0.9 percent, and the French CAC 40 rose 0.9 percent.

Britain’s FTSE 100 turned higher before the new year weekend. The biggest faller was Antofagasta, which was down 2.1% after it announced that access to its Los Pelambres mine in Chile had been blocked, and supplies and personnel had not been able to reach the site. Among the big fallers, Anglo American was second to Baratt at the close 1.0% lower, while tobacco giant Imperial Brands also closed down 1.0%. Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust was the top riser, closing 3.7% higher while Airtel Africa finished up 2.6%.

North America

The S&P 500 surged on Thursday in one of the year’s final trading sessions, but it was still on track to end the year down in what would be its worst performance since the 2008 financial crisis.

The broad-based stock index gained 66.06 points, or 1.7 percent, to 3,849.28, its biggest one-day increase of the month. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 264.80 points, or 2.6%, to 10478.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 345.09 points, or 1%, to 33220.80. U.S. stock benchmarks had retreated Wednesday.

The gains spread throughout the market Thursday, and all 11 of the S&P. 500’s sectors rose for the day. Tech stocks were particularly strong, and some recent stock-market laggards outperformed the market as a whole.

The shares of Tesla, for instance, soared $9.11, or 8.1 percent, to close at $121.82. And they are still down 65 percent for the year. Shares of Apple, Alphabet, and Meta Platforms, which are on track for some of their worst years on record, also outpaced the broader market, each gaining at least 2.8%.

With only one trading session to go in 2022, it’s likely that many investors will close out the year smarting from heavy losses. Through Thursday, the Dow industrials, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite were down 8.6%, 19% and 33% for the year.

“Investors want so badly to not have a bear market close to the year, but I really think that is pretty offside with the facts,” said Hans Olsen, chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust Company.

Mr. Olsen said he is a little cautious entering the new year, worried that higher interest rates could crimp stock returns in the months ahead.

On the last days of the year, investors are trying to figure out what China’s move away from a zero-tolerance strategy on Covid-19 means for markets. On one hand, a restart of travel in and out of China would be a shot in the arm to the global economy just as it is slowing.

On the other hand, investors fret that increasing demand will drive up prices for energy and other commodities, prompting central bankers to raise interest rates even more to tamp down inflation. Covid-19’s spread within the United States could also stymie production and snarl supply chains.

“That’s why we are getting this hot and cold market reaction,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said.

Thursday’s stock-market surge widens what has already been the most volatile year for the S&P 500 since the 2008 financial crisis. The broad stock-market gauge has seen 122 days of 1% or larger daily moves, the most in 14 years.

Déjà vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say. The U.S. is worried that the swift transmission of the virus that causes Covid-19 in China may raise the potential for new variants. Federal officials said the US will require passengers from China to provide negative Covid-19 test 5 starting Jan.

Many traders are out this week. That makes markets more vulnerable to outsize moves from fewer trades, which increases volatility.

Investors “seem unwilling to get carried away in either direction” as they head into the new year, said Peter van Dooijeweert, who leads Man Solutions’ multi-asset solutions.

“The first quarter, most people are expecting it to be very challenging,” said Mr. van Dooijeweert. “We are going to be stuck on every data point.”

New information around inflation and jobs has fueled fireworks in the stock market throughout 2022, which Mr van Dooijeweert said he expected to continue in the new year.

In the most recent read on its health, figures reported on Thursday showed that the number of workers filing for unemployment benefits in the week ended Dec. 24 was 225,000, a modest increase from 216,000 the week before.

The long-anticipated “Santa Claus Rally” has largely failed to materialize, with the S&P 500 set to climb 0.1 percent this week, after some big ups and downs. U.S. stocks, on average, gain during the seven trading days ending with the so-called Santa Claus rally, the last five sessions of the year and the first two of the new year.