TOKYO (AP) — Major Asian stock markets, including those in Tokyo and Seoul, were closed Wednesday for the year-end and New Year holidays, while shares that remained open had mixed trading.
In China, the Hang Seng index sank 0.5% in early trade to 25,715.16, while the Shanghai Composite rose less than 0.1% to 3,966.39. Taiwan’s Taiex jumped 0.7% to 28,893.59.
In Australia, Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1% to 8,706.40.
Tokyo trading was scheduled to close on Thursday and Friday for the New Year holiday and reopen on Monday. In South Korea, trading was scheduled to close on Thursday.
Trading will be open on Wall Street on Wednesday but will be closed on Thursday. On Tuesday, the turnover was low.
The S&P 500 fell 9.50 points, or 0.1%, to 6,894.24. Despite three consecutive days of small losses, the S&P 500 is on track for annual gains of more than 17%.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 94.87 points, or 0.2%, to 48,367.06. The Nasdaq Composite fell 55.27 points, or 0.2 percent, to 23,419.08.
The biggest weight in the market remains technology companies, especially those focused on advances for artificial intelligence.
Nvidia was down 0.4 percent and Apple was down 0.2 percent. Both companies have outsized prices that have a large overall impact on the broader direction of the market.
On the winning side, Facebook Parent Meta Platforms rose 1.1%. The company is buying artificial intelligence startup Manus as it continues an aggressive push to boost AI offerings across its platforms.
The most notable action was in commodity markets. Gold price rose by 1.4 percent to 4,386.30 per ounce. The price of silver increased by 10.9 percent. Gold and silver prices fell on Monday after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest trading floors for commodities, asked traders to hold more cash to make bets on the precious metals. A mix of economic concerns and supply shortages has pushed prices higher for both metals in 2025.
Copper prices rose 4.4% and are up 40% for the year on strong demand. The base metal is critical to the global energy infrastructure, and demand is expected to increase as the development of artificial intelligence technology puts more strain on data centers and the energy grid.
In energy trade, U.S. crude oil fell 7 cents to $57.88 a barrel. Brent crude oil price of the international standard decreased by 7 cents to 61.26 dollars per barrel.
Treasury yields in bond markets were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.12% from 4.11% late Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves closely with expectations of what the Federal Reserve will do, was steady at 3.45% late Monday.
