· Asian markets were ending 2017 in a party mood on Friday after a year in which a concerted pick-up in global growth boosted corporate profits and commodity prices, while benign inflation kept central banks from snatching away the monetary punch bowl.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS inched up 0.3 percent as three straight weeks of gains left it within a whisker of decade peaks. The index has been on an upward trajectory for pretty much all of 2017, putting it 33 percent higher for the year so far.
· Japan’s Nikkei share average erased early modest gains and ended slightly lower on its final trading day of the year on Friday, but the index still gained nearly 20percent in 2017.
The Nikkei ended the day down 0.08 percent at 22,764.94 points, while the broader Topix was also down 0.08 percent at 1,817.56.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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