Asian stocks today: market trades in green lifted by tech stocks; Nikkei nears 2% gain as yen suffers – The Times of India

Asian shares started the week on a positive note, following Wall Street’s gains on Monday, as technology shares drove investor sentiment and currency markets struggled with volatility, while the Japanese yen fell to a record low.In Japan, Nikkei added 973 points or 1.97% to reach 50,480 at 8:40 am IST. South Korea’s Kospi also rose 1.88% to trade at 4,096. The Hang Seng index edged higher, rising 0.11% to 25,966. Shanghai and Shenzhen also traded in green, up 0.63% and 1.27% respectively. Trading volumes remained low across much of the world during a holiday-shortened week, but markets advanced higher on delayed US economic data ahead of strong third-quarter data. Average forecasts pointed to annual growth of 3.2%, helped by a sharp decline in imports after a surge earlier this year ahead of the introduction of tariffs.Japan’s Nikkei traded in green as a sharply weaker yen boosted export earnings for Japanese companies. The currency continued to fall even after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a 30-year high of 0.75%, a move that has increased selling pressure on government bonds. Minutes of the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting will be released on Wednesday, while the central bank’s governor will address a Japanese business lobby over Christmas, Reuters reported. The yen hit a new record low against the euro at 184.90 and weakened to 198.08 against the Swiss franc. The dollar rose to 157.67 yen, although traders remained cautious about breaching November’s peak of 157.90, fearing such a move could prompt intervention from Tokyo.The South Korean market rose 1.8% on optimism about AI-related revenues. In the commodities sector, silver continued its strong run, reaching a new all-time high of $67.48 per ounce, pushing full-year gains to nearly 134%. Gold rose 0.6% to $4,362 an ounce, Reuters reported. Oil prices also edged higher after the United States intercepted a Venezuelan oil tanker and pursued another this weekend, marking the third such operation in less than two weeks. Brent crude rose 0.7% to $60.88 per barrel, while U.S. crude rose 0.7% to $56.89 per barrel.