Asian shares showed a mixed performance on Monday in light trading following a muted post-Christmas session on Wall Street, even as tensions escalated over Taiwan. U.S. futures were largely unchanged.

The Chinese military said it dispatched air, naval, and rocket forces to conduct joint exercises near Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, citing concerns over separatist activity and “external interference.” Taiwan, in response, placed its forces on alert and denounced Beijing as “the biggest destroyer of peace.” The drills followed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and a statement by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that Japan could intervene militarily if China acted against the island. The Chinese military did not specifically reference the United States or Japan in its Monday statement.

In regional markets, Taiwan’s benchmark index rose 0.8%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 25,887.33, and the Shanghai Composite added 0.3% to 3,975.92. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% to 50,663.90. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.9% to 4,207.36, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.3% to 8,732.70.

Precious metals saw notable movements, with gold dropping 0.4% to $4,535.50 per troy ounce, while silver surged 3% to $79.87 amid supply constraints. Rising demand for safe-haven assets has pushed both metals to record highs this year, bolstered by expectations of U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts and dollar weakness. Mining stocks, including Freeport-McMoRan, posted solid gains, climbing 2.2% on Friday.

U.S. stock indexes showed little movement after reopening Friday, with the S&P 500 down less than 0.1% at 6,929.94, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling to 48,710.97, and the Nasdaq dipping 0.1% to 23,593.10.

In commodities, U.S. crude rose 60 cents to $57.34 per barrel, Brent crude gained 62 cents to $60.86. The dollar slipped to 156.28 yen, while the euro remained at $1.1770.

Source: AP