Asian shares were mixed on Monday after stocks fell broadly on Friday as Wall Street closed out a holiday-shortened week on a down note.
US futures were lower while oil prices were little changed.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1 per cent to 39,894.62. The dollar gained against the Japanese yen, trading at 157.93 yen, up from 157.75 yen. The Tokyo market wrapped up trading for 2024 with a yearend ceremony as Japan began its New Year holidays, the biggest festival of the year.
South Korea's Kospi added 0.2 per cent to 2,409.91. But shares of Jeju Air Co. lost 9 per cent after one of the company's jets skidded off a runway, slammed into a concrete wall and burst into flames Sunday in South Korea as its landing gear failed to deploy. 179 people died in the crash.
The disaster was yet another blow for Boeing in a dispiriting year, following a machinists strike, further safety problems with its troubled top-selling aircraft and a plunging stock price.
Political turmoil persisted in South Korea as law enforcement officials requested a court warrant Monday to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. They are investigating whether his martial law decree on Dec. 3 amounted to rebellion.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was flat at 20,090.30 while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.2 per cent to 3,407.33. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.3 per cent to 8,235.00.
On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 1.1 per cent to 5,970.84. Roughly 90 per cent of stocks in the benchmark index lost ground, but it managed to hold onto a modest gain of 0.7 per cent for the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8 per cent to 42,992.21. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 1.5 per cent, to 19,722.03.
The losses were made worse by sharp declines for the Big Tech stocks known as the “Magnificent 7”, which can heavily influence the direction of the market because of their large size.
A wide range of retailers also fell. Amazon fell 1.5 per cent and Best Buy slipped 1.5 per cent. The sector is being closely watched for clues on how it performed during the holiday shopping season.
The S&P 500 gained nearly 3 per cent over a 3-day stretch before breaking for the Christmas holiday. On Thursday, the index posted a small decline.
Despite Friday's drop, the market is moving closer to another standout annual finish. The S&P 500 is on track for a gain of around 25 per cent in 2024. That would mark a second consecutive yearly gain of more than 20 per cent, the first time that has happened since 1997-1998.
The gains have been driven partly by upbeat economic data showing that consumers continued spending and the labor market remained strong. Inflation, while still high, has also been steadily easing.
A report on Friday showed that sales and inventory estimates for the wholesales trade industry fell 0.2 per cent in November, following a slight gain in October. That weaker-than-expected report follows an update on the labor market Thursday that showed unemployment benefits held steady last week.
The stream of upbeat economic data and easing inflation helped prompt a reversal in the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy this year. Expectations for interest rate cuts also helped drive market gains. The central bank recently delivered its third cut to interest rates in 2024.
Even though inflation has come closer to the central bank's target of 2 per cent, it remains stubbornly above that mark and worries about it heating up again have tempered the forecast for more interest rate cuts.
Inflation concerns have added to uncertainties heading into 2025, which include the labour market's path ahead and shifting economic policies under incoming President Donald Trump. Worries have risen that Trump's preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation, a bigger US government debt and difficulties for global trade.
In other dealings early Monday, US benchmark crude oil lost 45 cents to USD 70.55 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 7 cents to USD 73.72 per barrel.
The euro rose to USD 1.0429 from USD 1.0427. (AP)
