Asia-Pacific markets mostly rise in thin pre-holiday trading and tracking strong gains on Wall Street

Asia-Pacific markets trade mostly higher on Tuesday, followed a rally in U.S. tech shares that boosted Wall Street overnight. Further gains were limited by the shortened trading day today, ahead of the Christmas holidays. Japan ( NKY:IND ) fell -0.26% to 39,052 around noon on Tuesday, reversing from a surge in the prior session. The Japanese yen remained near a five-month low, trading close to 157 per dollar on Tuesday and falling by 4.9% this month. Traders digested a media report that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US has told the White House it is unable to reach a consensus on national security risks involved in Nippon Steel's bid for US Steel. Meanwhile, the Japan Fair Trade Commission is set to punish Google for unfair practices. China ( SHCOMP ) rose +1.09% to around 3,370, while the Shenzhen Component gained 0.9% to 10,632 in early deals on Tuesday, recovering from losses in the previous session. Meanwhile, Chinese state media Global Times said Monday that foreign institutions remain upbeat about China's capital market in 2025, as the economy will stabilize gradually. Hong Kong ( HSI ) rose +1.08% to 20,143 during Tuesday morning trade, marking its second straight session of gains. India ( SENSEX ) rose +0.27% to 78,800 in morning trade on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, mainly boosted by oil & gas, auto, and tech sectors. Australia ( AS51 ) rose +0.24% to close at 8,221 on Tuesday, building on gains from the previous session. The Australian dollar was trading around $0.623 on Tuesday, slightly above its recent two-year low of $0.619. This movement followed the release of minutes from the Reserve Bank's December policy meeting, which underscored the need to maintain restrictive monetary policy for the time being . In the U.S., on Monday, all three major indexes ended higher on the back of a robust performance of big tech and semiconductor stocks. U.S. stock futures drifted lower on Tuesday after a rally in tech and semiconductor stocks lifted Wall Street at the start of Christmas week: Dow -0.06% ; S&P 500 -0.06% ; Nasdaq -0.03% . Currencies: ( JPY:USD ), ( CNY:USD ), ( AUD:USD ), ( INR:USD ), ( HKD:USD ), ( NZD:USD ). More on Asia: RBA minutes: Underscores need to maintain restrictive monetary policy for the time being People's Bank of China keeps key lending rates steady for second straight month, as expected Japan’s Nov headline inflation rate rises to three-month high of 2.9%; core inflation tops forecast Bank of Japan keeps policy rate unchanged at 0.25%, as widely expected Japan's Nov export growth accelerates to three-month high, while imports unexpectedly fall