S&P/ASX 200 added 1.3% to 8,525.10, the Kospi reversed early gains, dropping 0.2% to 3,846.06

Asian shares were mixed on Monday. Markets in Japan were shut for a holiday. Hong Kong’s benchmark, the Hang Seng, gained 1.8% to 25,667.24.

It got a boost from a 5.1% 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.

The Shanghai Composite index was virtually unchanged at 3,834.69.

S&P/ASX 200 added 1.3% to 8,525.10.

In South Korea, the Kospi reversed early gains, dropping 0.2% to 3,846.06 on heavy selling of automakers.

Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.3% and the Sensex in India was flat.

Meanwhile, the future for the S&P 500 advanced 0.5% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%.

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.

After last week’s ups and downs over AI and Nvidia, traders will focus more on the backbone of U.S. growth, the consumer, whose spending still drives two-thirds of GDP, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

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.

This makes any sniff of holiday activity — foot traffic, discount depth, card authorizations — disproportionately important. In a data desert, even a puddle looks like a lake, Innes said.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 1% to 6,602.99 and the Dow jumped 1.1% to 46,245.41. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.9% to 22,273.08. Nearly 90% of stocks in the S&P 500 gained.