Stock market today: Asian markets advance in holiday-thinned trading but Chinese shares slip

Asian markets were largely higher on Tuesday amid thinned holiday trading, with some markets in the region closed for holidays.

U.S. futures and oil prices moved higher.

Shanghai's benchmark led to losses in Asia amid heavy selling of technology and computer chip-related stocks as concerns over trade tensions with the US and other Western countries flared.

The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7% to 2,898.88. In Shenzhen, where relatively more high-tech companies are listed, the A-share index lost 1.2%. Semiconductor-related stocks fell 2.7%, while consumer electronics stocks lost 2.4%.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.2% to 33,305.85. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.1% to 2,602.59. Bangkok's SET rose 0.3%. Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.8% and Mumbai's Sensex rose 0.3%.

The markets in Australia and Hong Kong were closed.

Japan's unemployment rate held steady at 2.5% in November, according to government data released Tuesday. The ratio of vacancies to applicants saw a slight relaxation to 1.28, indicating that there were approximately 128 vacancies available for every 100 applicants.

On the other hand, Japan's producer price index for services, which measures the cost of goods and services provided by companies to other companies and government agencies, remained stable at 2.3% in November. This signals a gradual pass-through of rising labor costs and the potential for sustainable wage increases, supporting the Bank of Japan's 2% inflation target.

The US and European markets were closed on Monday and some in Europe will remain closed on Boxing Day. On Friday, Wall Street capped its eighth straight winning week with a quiet close after reports showing inflation is falling even as the economy appears stronger than expected.

On Friday the S&The P 500 rose 0.2% and is less than 1% below the record of almost two years ago, at 4,754.63. The Dow Jones fell less than 0.1% to 37,385.97, and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% to 14,992.97.

With its eight consecutive weekly gains, the S&The P500 is in the midst of its longest winning streak since 2017.

In other trading Tuesday, a barrel of U.S. crude rose 8 cents to $73.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 12 cents to $78.92 a barrel.

The US dollar rose from 142.33 yen to 142.35 Japanese yen. The euro rose from $1.1016 to $1.1024.