Shares across Asia largely experienced declines on Tuesday, and U.S. futures remained unchanged following a dip in Wall Street stocks.
Oil prices showed little movement while gold and silver saw a return to their upward trends.
As the year draws to a close, only two trading days remain, prompting many major investors to finalize their portfolios, resulting in lower trading volumes. Global markets are set to close for New Year’s Day on Thursday, with some extending the holiday closure into Friday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei index saw a slight decrease of less than 0.1%, settling at 50,519.12.
Conversely, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by 0.5% to reach 25,751.64, whereas the Shanghai Composite index dipped by 0.1%, closing at 3,961.21.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 experienced a minor decline of 0.1%, ending the day at 8,719.10.
South Korea’s Kospi picked up less than 2 points, to 4,221.64, while Taiwan’s Taiex lost 0.2%.
On Monday, stocks slipped in quiet trading on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,905.74. The benchmark index is still up more than 17% for the year and it remains on track for its eighth monthly gain in a row.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 48,461.93, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%, to 23,474.35.
Big technology stocks with outsized valuations were among the heaviest weights on the market. Nvidia and several other companies focusing on AI or benefiting heavily from the developing technology have become some of the most valuable in the world.
Nvidia fell 1.2% and Broadcom fell 0.8%.
Tech shares have wobbled recently as investors have grown skeptical over the whether the eventual payoff will justify hefty investments in artificial intelligence.
Energy stocks gained ground Monday along with rising oil prices. U.S. benchmark crude jumped 2.4% to settle at $58.08 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.1% to settle at $61.94 a barrel. Exxon Mobil rose 1.2%.
Early Tuesday, U.S. crude was unchanged and Brent had lost 1 cent to $61.48 per barrel.
Gold and silver prices resumed their upward trajectory after pulling back on Monday when the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, one of the largest trading floors for commodities, asked traders to put up more cash to make bets on precious metals.
The price of gold gained 0.9% early Tuesday after falling 4.6% the day before. It’s up about 64% for the year.
Silver prices gained 5.2% after slumping 8.7% on Monday. They have more than doubled in 2025.
Treasury yields fell in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.11% from 4.13% late Friday.
Treasury yields have fallen significantly from the start of the year, after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate to help counter a slowing jobs market. That risks heating up inflation that is already stubbornly above the central bank’s target rate of 2%. Interest rate cuts could boost the economy by making loans less expensive, but that benefit could be nullified by rising inflation stunting economic growth.
In other dealings early Tuesday, the U.S. dollar slipped to 156.03 Japanese yen from 156.05 yen. The euro rose to $1.1779 from $1.1774.
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AP Business Writer Damian J. Troise contributed to this story.
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