Asian Shares Mixed In Thin Holiday Trade

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday as tensions escalated in the Middle East and China's central bank lowered a short-term policy rate and pumped more liquidity into the financial system in a bid to boost the world's second-largest economy.

The dollar held steady in Asian trade while gold reached a new record high ahead of key U.S. economic data, speeches from Federal Reserve officials and central bank meetings in Australia, Sweden and Switzerland due this week.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday that inflation is falling more quickly than expected, giving the U.S. central bank space to ease more in the coming months.

Oil extended last week's rally as the Israel-Hezbollah conflict appeared to escalate. Israel's military pounded targets in south and east Lebanon today and said more strikes were coming.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.44 percent to 2,748.92 after a key rate decision from the country's central bank and ahead of a rare briefing on the economy Tuesday by three top financial regulators, with markets expecting fresh stimulus to resuscitate China's growth.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended marginally lower at 18,247.11, giving up early gains after reports suggested that the U.S. Department of Commerce is preparing to propose a ban on the use of Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on American roads, citing national security concerns.

Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Seoul stocks rose modestly to extend gains for a fifth day running as tech stocks surged ahead of U.S. chipmaker Micron's earnings release.

The Kospi average gained 0.33 percent to close at 2,602.01. SK Hynix rallied 3.1 percent and Naver jumped 4.3 percent.

Australian markets snapped a seven-day winning streak ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia policy meeting due on Tuesday, with no change in interest rates expected.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 dropped 0.69 percent to 8,152.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.63 percent lower at 8,384.20.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's S&P/NZX-50 index closed 0.60 percent lower at 12,404.17 as Fletcher Building announced its eighth capital raising in two decades.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday but logged strong gains for the week following the Fed's aggressive rate cut earlier in the week.

Sentiment was dented a bit after package delivery giant FedEx cut its earnings outlook.

The Dow finished marginally higher to close at a new record high, while the S&P 500 eased 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4 percent.