Asian markets ended mostly in red on Thursday after crude oil prices fell below the $40 a barrel mark overnight and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reinforced the case for an interest rate hike later this month. Yellen said the US economy had ‘recovered substantially’ and consumer spending was ‘particularly solid’. Hong Kong stocks weakened, as investors assessed the effects of diverging global monetary policies after the market rallied this week on the Chinese yuan's global reserve currency status. However, Shanghai Composite ended higher brushing aside a Caixin/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index showing China's services sector growth cooling in November. Weak indicators often stir hopes of government stimulus, providing a burst of support for Chinese shares. Japanese stocks ended littlechanged in choppy trade as investors were content to adopt a conservative approach before the European Central Bank's policy decision later in the day
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,584.82 | 47.92 | 1.35 |
| Hang Seng | 22,417.01 | -62.68 | -0.28 |
| Jakarta Composite | 4,537.38 | -8.48 | -0.19 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,673.92 | -2.85 | -0.17 |
| Nikkei 225 | 19,939.90 | 1.77 | 0.01 |
| Straits Times | 2,883.89 | 0.25 | 0.01 |
| KOSPI Composite | 1,994.07 | -15.22 | -0.76 |
| Taiwan Weighted | 8,456.06 | -1.34 | -0.02 |