Sydney Opera House Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
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Asian markets were set to open on a mixed note on Friday as US stocks ended lower in the first session of 2025, led by tech stocks.
Investors in Asia will continue to assess political uncertainty in South Korea, as expected by the country's corruption watchdog execute the arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol– local media Yonhap News reports. Yoon's short-lived attempt to impose martial law on December 3 led to political turmoil in the country.
According to China's Ministry of Commerce, it plans to impose export restrictions on certain technologies used to produce battery components and process key minerals such as lithium and gallium. notice issued on Thursday. Society can send feedback on the proposal until February 1.
Australia S&P/ASX200 increased by 0.18% at the opening.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Futures were at 19,610, lower than HSI's last close of 19,623.32.
Markets in Japan remain closed for the holiday.
The three major U.S. indexes ended the first session of the new year lower, deepening weakness at the end of 2024 and signaling that markets may not experience a “Santa Claus rally” this year.
Investors expected approx “Santa Claus Rally” which covers the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the following January. During that period, the S&P 500 index gained an average of 1.3%, while rising almost 80% of the time, Dow Jones Market Data data dating back to 1950 showed.
Night in the States, blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 151.95 points, or 0.36%, to 42,392.27, while S&P500 fell 0.22% to 5,868.55 and was very high-tech Nasdaq Composite lose 0.16% to 19,280.79.
It marked the fifth straight session of losses for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, the longest losing streak since April. Big tech stocks weighed on the market, with Apple falling 2.6% and Tesla falling 6% on lower annual deliveries.
— CNBC's Jesse Pound and Christina Cheddar Berk contributed to this report.