Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday after benchmarks on Wall Street rose at the start of what’s expected to be a relatively calm holiday week.
U.S. futures were nearly unchanged.
Touching new records, the price of gold rose 1.1% early Tuesday to 4,519.50, adding to its consistent gains throughout the year, while silver rose 1.5%.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was flat at 50,412,87 and the dollar fell against the Japanese yen after officials in Tokyo warned they would intervene if the yen weakened sharply.
The dollar was trading at 156.01 yen, down from 157.04 yen late Monday. The euro climbed to $1.1782 from $1.1762.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up early gains to fall 0.1% to 25,774.14. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher, to 3,919.98.
South Korea's Kospi added 0.3% to 4,117.32, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia jumped 1.1% to 8,795.70.
In Taiwan, the Taiex advanced 0.6%, while India's Sensex was nearly unchanged.
Markets in the U.S. will close early on Wednesday for Christmas Eve and remain closed on Thursday for Christmas. The short week for trading includes several economic reports that could shed more light on the condition and direction of the U.S. economy.
On Tuesday, the government will release the first of three estimates on gross domestic product, a reflection of how the broader U.S. economy fared in the third quarter. On Wednesday, the Labor Department will release its weekly data on applications for jobless benefits, which stands as a proxy for U.S. layoffs.
The Conference Board offers up results from its December consumer confidence survey on Tuesday as well.
On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite picked up 0.5%.
Smaller company stocks did particularly well. The Russell 2000 index outpaced other major indexes with a 1.2% gain.
The gains also helped major indexes push further into winning territory for the month as a choppy December nears its end. Technology companies, especially those focused on artificial intelligence, have been the main force behind the market's oscillations. The direction of AI-related stocks will likely determine whether the market closes out December with gains or losses.
Uber rose 2.5% and Lyft rose 2.7% after announcing plans to bring robotaxi services to London next year.
Paramount Skydance rose 4.3%. The company sweetened its hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle and father of Paramount CEO David Ellison. He is putting up billions of dollars to back the deal as part of the latest move in Paramount's bidding war against Netflix.
Warner Bros. Discovery rose 3.5% and Netflix fell 1.2%.
Dominion Energy fell 3.7% after the Trump administration said it is pausing leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects. They include Dominion's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project.
Oil prices were flat after jumping more than 2% on Monday when the U.S. Coast Guard said it was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean.
U.S. benchmark crude was unchanged at $58.01 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, gained 7 cents to $62.14 per barrel.
Recent reports have shown that U.S. inflation remains elevated and consumer confidence has faded over the last year. Overall, the job market has been slowing and retail sales have weakened.
The ongoing and wide-ranging U.S. trade war has been hanging over consumers and businesses already squeezed and worried by higher prices. The mix of stubbornly high inflation and a weaker jobs market has also put the Fed in an awkward policy position moving forward.
Still, Wall Street is mostly betting that the Fed will hold steady on interest rates at its meeting in January. It has cut its benchmark interest rate at its last three meetings, even though inflation has remained stubbornly above its 2% target.
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