Asian shares trade higher ahead of Lunar New Year holidays and gold prices fall

HONG KONG (AP) — Asia shares traded higher Monday and gold declined, as several stock markets were closed or trading for a half-day ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged 0.1% higher to 56,996.21, after the government reported that Japan’s economy grew more slowly than economists had expected in the latest October-December quarter, at an annualized 0.2%.

The sluggish rate of growth increases the likelihood that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will press ahead with plans to revive the economy by raising government spending and cutting taxes, Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia Pacific at Capital Economics, wrote in a note.

Trading was thin as stock markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan were closed. The first day of the Lunar New Year this year falls on Tuesday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5% in its half-day session, closing at 26,705.94.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 0.3% to 8,940.60. India's Sensex was up 0.2%.

U.S. futures edged higher. The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was also up nearly 0.2%. U.S. stock markets are also closed on Presidents Day, a holiday.

On Friday, U.S. stocks calmed after a sharp drop earlier driven by worries about artificial intelligence disruptions across various industries which particularly hit software companies hard.

A report showing inflation cooled last month also helped steady the markets. The data suggesting U.S. price pressures may be easing offered more room for another Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

The S&P 500 edged up less than 0.1% to 6,836.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1% to 49,500.93. The Nasdaq composite edged down 0.2% to 22,546.67.

Computer chip maker Nvidia, the heaviest weight company on the S&P 500, was down 2.2% Friday. Technology company AppLovin rose 6.4% after losing almost a fifth of its value on Thursday, as investors focused on how AI could disrupt businesses of software and technology-related firms.

In other dealings early Monday, gold and silver prices fell. The price of gold was down 1.1% to $4,994.60 per ounce — falling from the $5,000 mark — and the price of silver fell 3.8% to $75.04 an ounce.

Oil prices were steady.

U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 5 cents to $62.94 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, rose 5 cents to $67.80 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar was at 153.08 Japanese yen, up from 152.64 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1867, down from $1.1872.