Asian stocks little changed in post-Christmas dull trading

Most major Asian markets, including the Japanese and Chinese, returned to trading after Christmas celebrations, but still lack momentum amid a lack of fundamental drivers and holiday-thinned trades. The Australian and New Zealand markets are closed today in observance of Christmas Day.

The Japanese equities trade with modest gains as the yen loses ground against the greenback, as sentiment remains favorable towards higher yielding assets. Meanwhile, the USD index advances amid higher treasury yields, up +0.14% to trade around 103.10 levels.

Meanwhile, the Japanese 225 index advances +0.20% to 19,471. The Chinese equities trade mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index down -0.18%, while CSI300 index trades +0.10% higher.