Asian markets are a bit mixed today as trading remains rather light towards the end of the year. Despite the struggle to firmly sit above the 24,000 level, the Nikkei is still having a stellar year as the index is up by 19.1% in year-to-date trading.

Overall, it’s been a great year for equities in general and most Asian indices are able to partake in those gains. The only ones with less impressive returns are Hong Kong – due to the social unrest – and emerging markets – owing to sluggish global growth: