05:26 AM EST, 12/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets closed mixed but mostly down Monday in the final or penultimate trading session of 2024 amid somber news of a South Korean commercial Boeing (BA) 737-800 air crash that was the country's worst in nearly three decades and the deadliest worldwide since 2015.

Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes finished up slightly, while Hong Kong, Japan, and most other regional exchanges were down.

Budget carrier Jeju Air's flight 7C 2216 was flying from Bangkok when it crashed on landing at an airport in Muan county in Korea's southwest with 175 passengers and six crew aboard, media outlets reported. Only two passengers survived, CNN reported.

The crash struck a Korean market already reeling from political instability and tepid industrial indicators. The country's main Kospi fell 0.2% on the last trading day of the year, with Jeju Air shares falling 8.7% and most other airlines also taking a hit.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 finished down around 1.0% during the final trading session of 2024 as traders locked in gains in a year that saw the index close at 39,894, its highest-ever finish.

Losers outnumbered gainers by about 2.5 to 1 on Monday, with marine freight logistics companies Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines among the top gainers, up 2.3% and 1.9% respectively, and carmakers Nissan and Mitsubishi among the top losers, down 5.7% and 3.2% respectively.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.2%, with online platforms JD.com, down 3.4%, and Trip.com, down 3.2%, among the biggest losers, amid lingering worries of trade restrictions with the West, with Semiconductor Manufacturing International the biggest winner, up 6.4%.

The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.8% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,407.

On other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.4%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.3%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.6%, and the Thai Set added 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down about 0.5%.