Asian shares edge higher amid holiday-thinned trade

Asian shares rose slightly on Thursday in light holiday trading, extending earlier gains amid a lack of major news or data to shift market direction. Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand were closed.

The dollar hovered near a two-year high at 108.15, boosted by the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance. Traders are pricing in only 35 basis points of rate cuts for 2025, pushing US Treasury yields higher. The 10-year yield steadied at 4.5967 per cent, while the two-year yield held at 4.3407 per cent.

MSCI’s Asia-Pacific index rose 0.04 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.38 per cent, contributing to an annual gain of over 17 per cent. Conversely, China’s CSI300 slipped 0.26 per cent, though it remains up more than 10 per cent for the year due to government support for the economy.

Bitcoin rose 0.5 per cent to $98,967 but remains below its recent peak of $100,000. Russian companies have started using bitcoin for international payments to mitigate Western sanctions, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

Attribution: Reuters

Subediting: M. S. Salama