Asian shares are mostly lower in quiet holiday trading as China stages war drills near Taiwan

Market Overview - Asian shares experienced a mostly lower trend amid thin holiday trading, influenced by China's military exercises near Taiwan [1] - Taiwan's benchmark Taiex saw a gain of 0.9%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell by 0.7% to 25,637.69 [3] - The Shanghai Composite index remained virtually unchanged at 3,965.28, and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4% to 50,526.92 [3] - South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.2% to 4,220.56, nearing its all-time record, driven by a 6.8% increase in SK Hynix due to a regulatory change [3] Commodity Prices - Gold prices fell by 1.3% to $4,494 per troy ounce, while silver prices decreased by 2.4% to $75.30 [4] - Recent surges in gold prices were partly due to concerns over the U.S. government shutdown and expectations of further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve [5] - Silver's market dynamics are influenced by China's changes in export regulations, with the country refining about two-thirds of global supplies [6] Geopolitical Context - China's military drills aimed to warn against perceived separatist and external interference forces, prompting Taiwan to place its forces on alert [2] - The drills were a response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and comments from Japan regarding potential involvement in defense matters [2]