Asian shares were mixed on Monday after a lackluster post-Christmas session on Wall Street, despite a ratcheting up of tensions over Taiwan.
U.S. futures were little changed.
The Chinese military said it had dispatched air, navy and rocket troops to conduct joint military drills around the self-governed island, which Beijing claims as its territory, to warn against what it called separatist and “external interference” forces. Taiwan said it was placing its forces on alert and called the Beijing government “the biggest destroyer of peace.”
The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at U.S. arms sales to the territory and a statement by Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that the world’s second-biggest economy says must come under its rule. But the Chinese military did not mention the United States and Japan in its statement on Monday morning.
Taiwan's benchmark gained 0.8%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 0.3% at 25,887.33. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.3% to 3,975.92.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% to 50,663.90.
In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 1.9% to 4,207.36, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.3% to 8,732.70.
The price of gold fell 0.4% to $4,535.50 per troy ounce, while silver gained 3% to $79.87. It has jumped to record levels on supply constraints.
Earlier surges in gold prices partly reflected worries during the U.S. government shutdown. Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further in the new year, weakening the dollar against other currencies, have also fueled buying of gold.
Both precious metals have risen this year as investors have looked for safe havens outside of stocks and bonds. Miners posted solid gains Friday. Freeport-McMoRan climbed 2.2%.
Trading is light with institutional investors largely closed out for the year.
Reopening Friday from the Christmas holiday, the S&P 500 index fell less than 0.1% to 6,929.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1%, to 48,710.97, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1% to 23,593.10.
With three trading days left in 2025, the S&P 500 has climbed nearly 18% this year, helped by the deregulatory policies of the Trump administration and investor optimism about the future of artificial intelligence.
In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 60 cents to $57.34 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, advanced 62 cents to $60.86 per barrel.
On Friday, U.S. crude oil fell 2.8% and Brent crude fell 2.6%.
The U.S. dollar fell to 156.28 Japanese yen from 156.56 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1770.
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