- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- Man Utd boss Amorim vows to stay on course despite Rashford row
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- NASA probe makes closest ever pass by the Sun
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Global stocks mostly rise in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Global stocks mostly rise after US tech rally
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- South Korean opposition postpones decision to impeach acting president
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
- Supermaxi yachts eye record in gruelling Sydney-Hobart race
- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
- England captain Stokes to miss three months with torn hamstring
- Support grows for Blake Lively over smear campaign claim
- Canada records 50,000 opioid overdose deaths since 2016
- Jordanian, Qatari envoys hold talks with Syria's new leader
RBGPF | -1.17% | 59.8 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0% | 7.25 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.64% | 23.75 | $ | |
SCS | 0.6% | 11.72 | $ | |
RIO | -0.15% | 59.14 | $ | |
NGG | -0.27% | 58.861 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.51% | 23.43 | $ | |
RELX | 0.57% | 45.85 | $ | |
AZN | -0.58% | 66.245 | $ | |
GSK | -0.41% | 33.92 | $ | |
BCE | 0.28% | 22.905 | $ | |
VOD | 0.72% | 8.431 | $ | |
BP | 0.16% | 28.795 | $ | |
JRI | 0.84% | 12.203 | $ | |
BTI | 0.04% | 36.235 | $ | |
BCC | 0.42% | 122.75 | $ |
Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
Asian stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday after a tech rally on Wall Street, but their gains remained modest in thin Christmas Eve trade.
Overnight, European stocks bounced around while US equities shook off early weakness to push higher as investors waited to see if a so-called Santa Claus rally would materialise.
US "stocks didn't really have any direction in the morning, then we got this tech rally that just sort of drifted higher all day," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
Analysts said that could help boost semiconductor-related shares, including in Tokyo, although the key Nikkei index was down 0.3 percent at the break.
Hong Kong was up 0.9 percent and Shanghai gained 0.5 percent. Taipei rose 0.8 percent and Wellington was up 0.7 percent, but Seoul declined 0.2 percent.
Hang Seng Bank said in a note that Hong Kong stocks were "consolidating before the long holiday".
It was among several exchanges, including Sydney, closing early on Tuesday.
"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 cited by Bloomberg News.
"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."
Despite the gains, Asian stocks faced downward pressure "as the Bank of Japan warned against foreign exchange speculation and Australia cut its iron ore price forecast, negatively impacting Japanese and Australian markets", Hang Seng Bank added.
Honda shares soared 16 percent after the Japanese auto giant announced a buyback of up to 1.1 trillion yen ($7 billion), as it enters merger talks with struggling rival Nissan.
The talks on collaboration between Honda and Nissan would create the world's third-largest automaker, expanding development of EVs and self-driving tech.
Honda's CEO insisted it was not a bailout for Nissan, which announced thousands of job cuts last month and reported a 93 percent plunge in first-half net profit.
- Key figures around 0200 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 39,043.95
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 20,062.57
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,369.54
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0438 from $1.0431 on Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2581 from $1.2567
Dollar/yen: UP at 156.47 yen from 156.45 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.95 pence from 82.98 pence
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $69.59 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $73.01 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 42,906.95 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,102.72 (close)
L.Janezki--BTB