Asia-Pacific markets opened in a mixed fashion on Monday, following a fresh record-breaking session among Wall Street indices on Friday amid gains in semiconductor stocks.
By 11:30 am AEDT (12:30 pm GMT) the ASX 200 and Kospi 200 lifted 0.3% and 0.6% respectively, while the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4%
In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, the S&P 500 gained 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite led with an 0.8% increase during a shortened Black Friday session.
Leading companies on the S&P 500 included Ralph Lauren Corp, up 3.9%, Tesla Inc, gaining 3.7%, and First Solar Inc up 3.5%.
Decliners were led by Super Micro Computer Inc, VeriSign Inc, and Texas Pacific Land Corp, down 6.9%, 2.3%, and 2.2% respectively.
In Asia, Chinese indices closed higher on Friday, with the Shanghai Composite gaining 0.9% and the CSI 300 rising 1.1%.
China’s official November manufacturing PMI came in at 50.3, its highest level since April, signalling modest expansion and surpassing the 50.1 forecast.
Non-manufacturing PMI dipped slightly to 50.0 versus 50.2 expected.
In commodities, Brent crude oil fell 1.3% to US$71.84 a barrel, while gold edged up 0.2% to US$2,643.15.
European shares also ended higher, with Germany’s DAX up 1%, France’s CAC 40 gaining 0.8%, and the UK’s FTSE 100 inching up 0.1%.