• Asian stocks are set for a mixed open on the last trading day of the year as commodity prices fall and investors bargain-hunt in China.
• Australian equities fell and futures in Japan point to an early loss, as a drop in iron ore prices and a strong yen weigh on those markets. Contracts in Korea climbed as the artificial-intelligence euphoria has the Nasdaq 100 on pace for its best year since 1999, and the benchmark S&P 500 inched toward a record high with its fifth straight advance. Chinese shares eye an early gain as investors return to its battered market.
• Asian stocks are on track for their best year since 2020 as investors return to emerging markets amid signs the Federal Reserve will cut rates next year. Still, they’ve underperformed global peers, weighed by concerns over China’s economic malaise, a resurgence of food inflation as drought inundates rice crops, and as investors start positioning ahead of elect…