By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly up on Friday morning, potentially boosted by better-than-expected Chinese data and a rally in U.S.-listed Chinese equities. It was the final trading day in 2021 for some countries, so trade was light.

China’s gained 0.52% by 10:03 PM ET (2:03 AM GMT) while the was up 0.21%. showed that December’s was 50.3, and the was 52.7. Both were over the 50-mark, indicating growth.

Investors also continued to monitor China’s property sector, particularly some initial coupon payment deadlines for Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd.’s Dollar Bonds

Hong Kong’s jumped 1.94% while in Australia, the fell 0.48%. The markets in Hong Kong and Australia will close at a reasonable hour, with the Korean and Japanese markets remaining closed throughout the day.

Although the Nasdaq Gold Dragon China Index rose 9.4% Thursday, it is still below 40% for 2020.

The U.S. rallies are largely responsible for global equities closing strong in the year. Asia Pacific lags behind. As central banks tighten their monetary policies to reduce high inflation, bond investors also suffer losses. What this policy shift will mean for economic recovery in 2019 is key.

“As we look forward to 2022 the gains are probably going to be more modest than they’ve been in the past year or so” partly given where valuations are now, Glenmede chief investment officer for private wealth Jason Pride told Bloomberg.

But there is reason to be optimistic since “we’re still in the recovery from COVID-19,” he added.

The U.S. released data on Thursday showing that it fell unexpectedly to 198,000 for the week and a lower-than-expected 63.1 in December.

In the meantime, President Joe Biden spoke for 50 minutes with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart. This was ahead of three negotiations about European security in January 2022.

During the call, Biden urged Putin to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine, warning that the U.S. and its allies would “respond decisively” if Russia invades. Russia, for its part, was “happy and satisfied” with the “constructive” conversation in which the two leaders agreed to keep in regular contact during the negotiations.