Today's stock market: Asian stocks are divided as Wall Street emerges from its holiday-season slump

HONG KONG (AP) — Following Wall Street's recovery from the holiday season blues, Asian stocks are uneven, with markets in China and Tokyo seeing declines.As Tokyo's market reopened following the lengthy customary holiday, the finance minister of Japan rang in the New Year, and employees wearing suits and kimonos applauded for good fortune in 2025.Katsunobu Kato, the finance minister, declared that the Japanese government would take action to assure economic growth driven by investment and salary rises. He also promised to "grasp signs of recovery" and make sure that "every single citizen can feel the improvement in their salaries."Much of Asia has been wary of possible changes under President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to drastically increase tariffs on imports from China and other nations, which might impede growth for a region that depends significantly on trade.

After U.S. President Joe Biden turned down Nippon Steel's roughly $15 billion offer to buy Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp., the company was predicted to file a lawsuit. On Monday, Nippon Steel's stock dropped 0.7% in Tokyo. On Friday, U.S. Steel's stock fell 6.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.5% to 19,654.82, while Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6% to 39,258.25. At 3,194.20, the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.5%.