| Asian stocks ended mixed in thin trade on Monday, with Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Regional sentiment was underpinned somewhat by hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December and easing Ukraine-Russia tensions. Gold dropped for a third consecutive session as the dollar hovered near six-month highs ahead of a slew of U.S. economic data due this week, including reports on retail sales, producer price index and weekly jobless claims. China's Shanghai Composite index finished little changed at 3,836.77 as the China-Japan spat continued, with China escalating the dispute over Taiwan at the UN and Japan's defense minister visiting a military base close to Taiwan. Chip-related stocks rose following reports that the Trump administration was considering allowing sales of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips to China. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 1.97 percent to 25,716.50. Alibaba Group Holding shares jumped 4.7 percent after the e-commerce leader said it's newly launched Qwen app has seen explosive growth, surpassing 10 million downloads within a week. Powered by Capital Market - Live News |