<\/p>\n
Trader Robert Finnerty Jr. works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025.<\/p>\n
Richard Drew\/AP<\/p>\n
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n
Ahn Young-joon\/AP<\/p>\n
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n
Ahn Young-joon\/AP<\/p>\n
A TV camera man stands near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n
Ahn Young-joon\/AP<\/p>\n
A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n
Ahn Young-joon\/AP<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 Asian shares were mostly higher and U.S. futures advanced Monday after Wall Street ended on an upbeat note after much drama last week.<\/p>\n
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Markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.<\/p>\n
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Hong Kong\u2019s benchmark, the Hang Seng, rose 1.3% to 25,550.89. It got a boost from a 4.7% gain for e-commerce giant Alibaba, which has reported strong demand for its new Qwen AI app. Alibaba is due to report earnings on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Shanghai Composite index, one of the few regional markets to decline, fell 0.3% to 3,821.68.<\/p>\n
Australia’s S&P\/ASX 200 gained 1.1% to 8,507.60<\/p>\n
In South Korea, the Kospi climbed as technology shares settled after a rough few days of volatility spurred by worries over the craze for artificial intelligence will be sustained.<\/p>\n
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Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.4% and the Sensex in India edged 0.1% higher.<\/p>\n
The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.6% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%.<\/p>\n
This week, U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, which will be followed by the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail rushes.<\/p>\n
After last week’s ups and downs over AI and Nvidia, traders will focus more on \u201cthe backbone of U.S. growth, the consumer, whose spending still drives two-thirds of GDP,\u201d Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.<\/p>\n
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Data on the U.S. economy was scarce during the 6-week U.S. government shutdown, leaving investors struggling to parse trends in the economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis makes any sniff of holiday activity \u2014 foot traffic, discount depth, card authorizations \u2014 disproportionately important. In a data desert, even a puddle looks like a lake,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the S&P 500 gained 1% to 6,602.99 and the Dow climbed 1.1% to 46,245.41. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.9% to 22,273.08. Nearly 90% of stocks in the S&P 500 advanced.<\/p>\n
It was a fitting finish for a week that left the S&P 500 just 4.2% below its record but also forced investors to stomach the sharpest hour-to-hour swings since a sell-off in April. The jarring moves are testing investors following a monthslong and remarkably smooth surge for stocks, and they come down to two basic as-yet unanswered questions.<\/p>\n
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Have prices for Nvidia, bitcoin and other stars of Wall Street shot too high? And is the Federal Reserve done with its cuts to interest rates, which would boost the economy and prices for investments?<\/p>\n