Asian shares mixed in quiet Christmas trading

TOKYO – Shares were mixed in quiet trading Monday in the few Asian markets open during the Christmas holiday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2 per cent to 22,943.43 by early afternoon, while the Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.4 per cent to 3,283.57. Trading was thin, tracking last week’s weak finish on Wall Street, with many investors away.

Shares were higher in India and Thailand but fell in Taiwan.

Stocks finished slightly lower Friday in New York in subdued trading ahead of the three-day holiday weekend. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell less than 0.1 per cent to 2,683.34. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1 per cent to 24,754.06 and the Nasdaq composite also shed 0.1 per cent, to 6,959.96.

Stocks were below the record highs they reached earlier in the week but still finished higher for the fifth week in a row.

Markets will be closed in the U.S. and Europe on Monday in observance of Christmas, and with just four days of trading left in 2017, stocks were on pace to finish every month of the year with gains, when dividends are included.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11 cents to $58.47 a barrel in New York on Friday. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, rose 35 cents to $65.25 a barrel in London.

The dollar was at 113.30 Japanese yen. The euro was nearly unchanged at $1.1856.