Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday, with several indexes set to close early in lieu of the Christmas Eve holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.14%, while the Topix traded around the flatline. Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday that the country was set to issue about 29.6 trillion yen (about $190 billion) in new government bonds to fund its fiscal 2026 budget. Yields on the 30-year Japanese government bond rose over 2 basis points to a record high of 3.454%. Yields on the 20-year JGBs rose a little under one basis point to 2.992%.
South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was 0.2% lower. The South Korean won strengthened over 1% to 1,462.3 against the greenback after South Korea’s national pension fund was reported to be carrying out strategic foreign exchange hedging activities, according to Reuters, citing a source close to the matter.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.1%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was flat.
However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.33%, snapping a four-day streak of gains.
Hong Kong and Australian markets are expected to close early.
Spot gold prices hit another record Wednesday, crossing $4,500 per ounce for the first time, driven by a weaker dollar, geopolitical tensions and U.S. Federal Reserve rate-cut expectations. Gold has notched a series of all-time highs this year, soaring over 70% year to date.
Platinum to surged to an all-time high, crossing $2,300 per ounce.
“Gold has blown past $4,500, Silver is flirting with $72, and Platinum is chasing $2400; all of which are arguably benefitting from the allure as hedges of USD debasement,” said Mizuho Securities’ head of Asia ex-Japan macro research, Vishnu Varathan.
The U.S. dollar index has weakened almost 10% since the start of the year, data from LSEG showed.
U.S. futures were trading near the flatline in early Asian hours.
Overnight in the U.S., stocks rose for a fourth straight session as artificial intelligence names continued to outperform during a holiday-shortened week.
The S&P 500 added 0.46%, closing at a record level of 6,909.79. The broad market index is now just below its intraday all-time high of 6,920.34.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.57% to end at 23,561.84. Gains in tech giants Nvidia and Broadcom, which rose around 3% and more than 2%, respectively, lifted the index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 79.73 points, or 0.16%, and settled at 48,442.41.
—CNBC’s Fred Imbert, Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.
