(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia saw muted gains amid relatively thin holiday trading after a rally in some of the world’s largest technology companies boosted US benchmarks.
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Shares opened higher in mainland China, while they were mixed in Japan and Australia. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. shares touched a record high in Taipei, extending a bumper year. US equity futures edged lower in Asia after a gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” technology megacaps rose 1.4% Monday.
“This is the time of the year when there’s a lot of noise and little to no signal in price action,” said Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.Com. “There’s a high chance of a pretty slow day for the region and an uneventful rest of the week as a high proportion of the markets log off for the holidays.”
MSCI’s Asian equity benchmark is headed for its first quarterly loss since September 2023, losing 7% over the period, even as the S&P 500 has risen 3.7%. Sentiment has soured in Asia in recent months due to concerns over higher global tariffs threatened by US President-elect Donald Trump, a stronger dollar and China’s lackluster economic recovery.
Nissan Motor Co. shares slid as much as 7.3% in Tokyo after the company confirmed it’s in talks with Honda Motor Co. over a possible business integration. Honda climbed as much as 14% after saying it will buy back as much as ¥1.1 trillion ($7 billion) of its stock.
TSMC climbed as much as 1.4%, briefly surpassing its Nov. 8 peak, after gains in US chip stocks including key customer Nvidia Corp. The shares are now up 83% this year amid investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence trades.
Treasury 10-year yields were little changed Tuesday at 4.58%, while the dollar edged higher against most of its Group-of-10 peers.
South Korea data published Tuesday showed consumer confidence dropped this month by the most since the outbreak of Covid-19, battered by the political turmoil triggered by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law and his impeachment.
Australia’s central bank said it is more confident inflation is moving sustainably toward target but it’s still too soon to conclude the battle is won given a recent pick-up in consumption and a still-tight labor market, minutes of its December meeting showed.
