Asian Shares Mixed In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended flat to lower on Monday, though Seoul stocks rallied after a court dismissed an appeal by lawyers of Yoon Suk Yeol against an arrest warrant for the impeached president.

Japanese markets led declines due to profit taking following the Nikkei stock index's record year-end close.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended on a sluggish note as U.S-China trade tensions loomed, and investors looked for greater clarity on the implementation of stimulus policies.

Oil prices eased from near three-month highs in Asian trade amid concerns over sanctions and a stronger dollar after positive U.S. House Speaker election results.

Gold ticked lower ahead of the release of minutes from the Fed's last meeting due Wednesday and the December payrolls report due on Friday.

China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.14 percent to 3,206.92 and the onshore yuan breached a key milestone for the first time since late 2023 amid reports that the People's Bank of China will issue the largest-ever offshore yuan bonds in Hong Kong this month.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.36 percent to 19,688.29 after a choppy session as a private sector survey showed China's service activity expanded at a faster clip at the end of 2024.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.47 percent to 39,307.05 on the first trading day of 2025. Japanese financial markets were closed from last Tuesday for the New Year holidays.

The broader Topix index settled 1.02 percent lower at 2,756.38 while the yen fell under pressure from higher U.S. Treasury yields.

Earlier in the day, a measure of Japan's service sector activity signaled rising prices and wages, potentially supporting a January BoJ rate hike.

Seoul stocks logged strong gains, with tech stocks climbing after Taiwan-listed Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the assembly partner to Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc., posted record revenue for the fourth quarter.

The Kospi average jumped 1.91 percent to 2,488.64. Samsung Electronics rallied 2.8 percent, SK Hynix surged 9.8 percent, Naver jumped 4 percent and LG Energy Solution advanced 1.5 percent.

Australian markets fluctuated before ending marginally higher, led by technology stocks. Miners underperformed after iron ore prices fell below US$100 ($160.73) per ton on Friday.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 finished marginally higher at 13,072.93.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Friday after a shaky start to the new year. Shares of major tech companies surged amid expectations that they would benefit from continued spending on artificial intelligence.

Bond yields eased slightly as new data showed U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slower rate in December.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.8 percent and the S&P 500 surged 1.3 percent to snap a five-day losing streak while the Dow added 0.8 percent.