Shares were mixed in quiet trading Monday in the few Asian markets open during the Christmas holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2% to 22,943.43 by early afternoon, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.4% to 3,283.57. Trading was thin, tracking last week’s weak finish on Wall Street, with many investors away, AP reported.
Shares were higher in India and Thailand but fell in Taiwan.
Stocks finished slightly lower Friday in New York in subdued trading ahead of the three-day holiday weekend. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell less than 0.1% to 2,683.34. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1% to 24,754.06 and the Nasdaq composite also shed 0.1%, to 6,959.96.
Stocks were below the record highs they reached earlier in the week but still finished higher for the fifth week in a row.
Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul 100 Index rose 0.5%, poised for the strongest close since Nov. 8.
Markets will be closed in the US and Europe on Monday in observance of Christmas, and with just four days of trading left in 2017, stocks were on pace to finish every month of the year with gains, when dividends are included.
Benchmark US crude rose 11 cents to $58.47 a barrel in New York on Friday. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, rose 35 cents to $65.25 a barrel in London.
The dollar was at 113.30 Japanese yen. The euro was nearly unchanged at $1.1856.
Meanwhile, the US dollar and Russia’s ruble advanced in thin trading on a day when most markets worldwide are closed for a holiday.
Saudi Arabian shares declined for a third straight day, with volume at 30% below the gauge’s 30-day average. Turkish stocks rose to the highest level in about seven weeks on a closing basis, while equities in Oman retreated for a fifth day. China’s onshore yuan rallied to the strongest level in more than three months.
Bitcoin declined 3.1% as in London, poised to extend its losing streak to five days. It advanced as much as 2.7% on Monday, erasing losses of as much as 12%.
Most markets across Asia, Australia, Europe and the US are closed for Christmas. While exchanges in the Middle East are among a handful open globally, trading typically thins because expatriates, who make up about half of the Persian Gulf Arab states’ population, travel during the holiday period.
