Asian shares mixed amid Christmas holiday for most markets

Investors focus on the US where President Trump has threatened to veto the $900bn economic stimulus package

Pedestrians walk past an electronic board displaying the Nikkei 225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. AFP

Stocks rose in China and were little changed in Japan on Friday with most world markets closed for Christmas holidays.

The mixed session followed an advance during Wall Street’s shortened Christmas Eve trading as investors began the holiday weekend seemingly untroubled over President Donald Trump’s threat not to sign a major economic stimulus package approved by Congress this week.

The economic package remained in limbo after Republican lawmakers rejected Trump’s demand that the end-of-year spending bill give most Americans $2,000 Covid relief checks –far more than the $600 members of his own party had agreed to.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was virtually unchanged, at 26,663.86, after the government reported that retail sales fell 2 per cent from a year earlier in November, while consumer prices dropped the most they have in a decade.

The Shanghai Composite index surged 0.8 per cent to 3,389.28. Shares also rose in Taiwan and in Thailand.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 index gained 0.4 per cent to 3,703.06, but ended the week down 0.2 per cent. Relatively safe investments like utilities and real estate were among the biggest gainers, while energy stocks fell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent to 30,199.87 and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent, to 12,804.73.

Investors remain focused on Washington, where Democrats in Congress are expected to try to amend the $900 billion Covid-19 stimulus bill that President Trump has threatened to veto. Democrats support higher payments for individuals, but that is unlikely to win support in the Republican-held Senate.

The hope has been that President Trump will back away from his veto threat and the stimulus package might tide the economy over until widespread vaccinations can help the world begin to return to normal.

Meanwhile, the US economy has continued to deteriorate under widespread coronavirus outbreaks, infections and hospitalisations.