HONG KONG, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Stock prices on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ended slightly higher in an abbreviated pre-holiday session Tuesday as investors wrapped up a year that saw blue chips drop 18 percent.

Markets in Japan were closed and will reopen Monday with the blue-chip Nikkei Stock Average hovering at 8,578.95 -- its lowest year-end close since 1982. For the year the Nikkei lost 18.6 percent of its value.

South Korea's stock market was also closed for an extended holiday. Trading will resume Thursday with the Korean Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, at 627.55.

Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng Index, which dropped 172.93 points during the previous session, added 48.96 points, or 0.5 percent, to 9,321.29 -- its lowest end-of-year finish since the index ended 1995 at 7,342.65. The index fell more than 18 percent for the year, the third consecutive year of losses and the Hang Seng's longest losing streak on record.

Markets in Hong Kong closed early for the New Year holiday.

Despite economic worries that pushed prices lower over the past year, investors were cheered by modest gains in most overseas markets and lower oil prices.

Analysts said stocks ended higher on a technical rebound in the half-day session, but volumes were light as most investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of the New Year holiday.

SmarTone outperformed the market on news that BT International agreed to sell its entire 20.76 percent interest in SmarTone after Sun Hung Kai Properties raised its mandatory general offer by 3 percent.

Meanwhile, HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and BOC Hong Kong (OTCPK:BHKLY) all ended slightly higher while telecom stocks ended mixed amid an uncertain business outlook.

Prices ended slightly lower on the Taiwan Stock Exchange as many investors kept to the sidelines ahead of the New Year's holiday.

The Weighted Price Index, which lost 89.57 points Monday, slipped 5.30 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,452.45, ending a volatile 2002 during which the market lost 20 percent of its value as the island's economy struggled to recover.

Elsewhere around the Pacific region, prices ended higher on the Australian Stock Exchange. The blue-chip All Ordinaries Index, which lost 30.90 points during the previous session, rose 15.00 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,975.50, but dropped 12.1 percent in 2002, the market's first losing year since 1994.