Asian Shares Mixed In Thin Holiday Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed in thin holiday trade on Thursday while regional currencies were mostly lower against a resilient dollar and elevated Treasury yields amid uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats. Oil and gold clung to modest gains in Asian trade.

Markets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were closed for the Boxing Day holiday. Indonesian markets were closed for Christmas.

Mainland Chinese stocks edged up slightly after authorities agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special treasury bonds next year to stimulate growth and counter tariffs.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index ended 0.14 percent higher at 3,398.08 as the People's Bank of China held the interest rate on the one-year medium-term lending facility steady at 2 percent and drained the most cash since 2014 with a one-year policy tool.

Japanese markets rallied and the yen languished near a five-month low after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda maintained his dovish stance in his speech on Wednesday, saying the central bank must scrutinize the impact of Trump's policy and overseas risks.

The Nikkei average jumped 1.12 percent to 39,568.06 while the broader Topix index settled 1.20 percent higher at 2,766.78.

Toyota Motor soared 6 percent to extend gains from the previous session after reports suggested the automaker would double its return on equity target to 20 percent by around 2030.

Honda Motor rallied 3.8 percent, Nissan Motor surged 6.6 percent and Mitsubishi Motors advanced 6.5 percent.

Seoul stocks drifted lower amid concerns about domestic political turmoil and fluctuations in the forex market. The Kospi average dropped 0.44 percent to 2,429.67. Wall Street's main indexes all closed higher in a truncated Christmas Eve session on Tuesday, led by big tech stocks.

The Dow rose 0.9 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.4 percent to score four straight sessions of gains, kicking off the so-called Santa Claus rally. The S&P 500 added 1.1 percent to extend its winning streak to three sessions.