A climb in Chinese stocks on Thursday enlivened an otherwise listless session for Asian shares in the wake of another Wall Street all-time high on light volumes in the final days of the year.

China’s CSI 300 index was up about 1 per cent on expectations of more steps to bolster economic growth amid calls for policy easing and reports that some personal income-tax cuts will be extended. In Hong Kong, artificial intelligence giant SenseTime Group jumped on its first day of trading.

MSCI’s overall Asia-Pacific gauge largely held its ground. US and European equity futures were little changed after the S&P 500 eked out a gain to hit its 70th record close of the year on Wednesday.

The 10-year Treasury yield held an advance that took it above its 50-day moving average for the first time in about a month. Australia’s 10-year yield increased too, part of a global sovereign-bond retreat. A dollar gauge was steady and crude oil and iron ore rose.

As the year draws to a close, investors are contemplating the implications of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, decreasing stimulus and elevated inflation stoked by supply-chain bottlenecks. Key questions include whether Treasury yields will push higher and how much impetus is left in the equity bull market.

“Despite global surges in Covid cases, markets are reflecting the new reality that Covid is here to stay, albeit more on our terms than its,” Kevin Philip, Managing Director at Bel Air Investment Advisors, said in an email.

Next year, “we are facing less of a Covid-influenced world, and a return toward normalcy,” he added.

Zero tolerance

Chinese officials renewed their commitment to a zero tolerance approach to Covid-19 as they tackle a protracted outbreak in the western city of Xi’an. Micron Technology said output of some computer memory will be hit by the lockdown there.

China’s battered property developers and regulatory crackdown are again in focus heading toward 2022.

Developer Kaisa Group Holdings faces an initial deadline for coupon payments totaling $154 million on two dollar bonds Thursday. A unit of China Evergrande Group plans to cut its stake in China Calxon Group after failing to repay debt in time.

Meanwhile, Alibaba Group Holding is in talks over a possible sale of its stake in Weibo, a Twitter-like social media service, to a State-owned Chinese conglomerate. Beijing is moving to curb the influence of China’s tech giants in the media sphere. Alibaba’s shares were steady in Hong Kong.

Elsewhere, Bitcoin extended its December retreat and was trading below $47,000.

comment COMMENT NOW