Asian Shares Mixed On First Trading Day Of 2023

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks were mixed in thin trade on Monday, with most markets closed for New Year holidays.

Seoul stocks closed lower on the first trading day of 2023 due to institutional selling. Weak economic data also weighed, with the country reporting its first annual deficit since the global financial crisis in December on high energy prices. The Kospi average closed 0.48 percent lower at 2,225.67 after a choppy session.

Heavyweight tech shares closed mostly higher, with Samsung Electronics rising 0.4 percent and SK Hynix gaining 0.9 percent.

Automakers surged after the U.S. Treasury department released additional information on certain clean vehicle provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Hyundai Motor jumped 4 percent and its affiliate Kia Corp added 3.7 percent.

India's Sensex was up 0.4 percent in a rangebound session after rising more than 4 percent in 2022.

Metal stocks topped the gainers list, with Hindalco, Tata Steel and SAIL rallying 4-7 percent, after China announced it would raise export duty on metals.

Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was down 0.2 percent.

There will not be any trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today.

U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Friday to book their worst annual losses since 2008 amid worries about the economic and corporate earnings outlook.

The Dow slipped 0.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 shed 0.3 percent as data showed contraction in Chicago-area business activity eased in December.

U.S. employment data, reports on manufacturing and service sector activity along with minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve would be in focus this week as the U.S. central bank battles inflation.