Weakness among commodity stocks has European benchmarks lower across the board
Asian markets finished a low-volume session mixed, as traders eyed an
overnight bounce in oil prices. A weaker yen helped Japan's Nikkei to a 0.3% gain amid strength in exporters, with the benchmark finishing a fourth consecutive year higher, up 9.3%. China's Shanghai Composite also added 0.3%, with rail stocks rallying on reports that the second phase of a Dalian railway project has been approved. On the flip side, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi retraced earlier advances to finish on losses of 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
Stocks in Europe are feeling the weight of a sell-off in commodities -- though some miners are managing to buck the downtrend -- putting the region on track for its worst December since 2002. London's FTSE 100 could snap its four-session winning streak, down 0.5%, with oil majors suffering sharp losses. The German DAX, which is shuttered tomorrow for New Year's Eve, is off 0.8% -- but is still up roughly 10% for 2015. Rounding things out, France's CAC 40 has retreated 0.3%.
