Investing.com - Monday kicked off with Asian Pacific markets, including the ASX 200, KOSPI 200, and Nikkei 225, opening in positive territory, following Wall Street's modest gains across all major indices after the Thanksgiving holiday.
The US stock market ended the truncated trading session with minor shifts led by gains in the Dow Industrials, marking a fourth consecutive week of gains. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ Composite saw respective increases of 1.3%, 1%, and 0.9%.
Healthcare emerged as the top-performing sector in the S&P 500 on Friday, advancing 0.5%. Meanwhile, communications services fell 0.7%, marking the day's biggest laggard. CF Industries, a fertilizer manufacturer, was the top stock in the index, rising 2.6%.
In the commodity markets, Brent crude oil fell 1.0% to US$80.58 a barrel, while gold was up 0.4% to US$2,000.82.
In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds was up at 4.24%, while the 10 Year yield also rose to 4.54%. US Treasury notes were up, with the 2 Year yield at 4.95% and the 10 Year yield at 4.47%.
Chinese shares closed lower, despite recent stimulus measures in the property sector by the Chinese government. Software companies led the losses, while food retail stocks rose. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.7% lower.
Hong Kong shares closed lower, with widespread declines. Property companies were among the worst performers, while Sinopharm Group was among the few gainers. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 2.0% to 17559.42.
The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5% to close at 33625.53, buoyed by Japan's softer-than-expected October core CPI and JPY weakness.
Indian shares ended slightly lower, with tech stocks' weakness offsetting banking gains. The benchmark Sensex closed 0.1% lower, closing the week 0.3% lower.
European stocks closed higher, with the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 up 0.3% at 459.98. Germany's Dax and France's CAC 40 closed up 0.2%.
London's blue-chip index ended the week slightly lower after another quiet session with low volatility. The FTSE 100 index closed 0.06% higher on Friday.