BANGKOK (AP) — Shares in Asia are mixed as investors tread cautiously ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision this week.
US futures and oil prices rose.
Rising tensions between Japan and China also weighed on sentiment as traders remained cautious.
Japan and Australia called for calm on Sunday after Chinese warplanes jammed the radars of Japanese fighter jets, weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about Taiwan sparked tensions with Beijing.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Japan had formally protested the incident, calling it an “extremely regrettable” and “dangerous” act that “exceeds the limits necessary for the safe operation of aircraft.”
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index was unchanged at 50,491.53.
Also dampening the mood were revised government data released Monday, which showed Japan's economy contracted 2.3% year-on-year in the July-September period, rather than the 1.8% annualized rate previously reported. Japanese exports have been hit by US President Donald Trump's tariffs and government investment has fallen.
Chinese markets were mixed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng falling 1% to 25,835.99 and the Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.6% to 3,927.19.
Chinese leaders were due to hold a major annual economic policy planning conference in the coming days.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi added 0.2% to 4,109.21 and Taiwan's index jumped 0.8%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.3% to 8,609.70.
On Friday, the S&P 500 added 0.2% to close just below the record close set in October. It briefly topped during the day before erasing its gains to close at 6,870.40.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 47,954.99 and the Nasdaq added 0.3% to 23,578.13.
The modest moves capped a quiet week on Wall Street, providing a respite from weeks of wild and frightening swings.
Ulta Beauty shares helped lead the market, jumping 12.7% after the retailer reported higher-than-expected earnings and revenue for its latest quarter. Victoria's Secret & Co. shares soared 18% after posting more modest losses than analysts had expected in the latest quarter.
Warner Bros. stock Discovery rose 6.3% after Netflix said it would buy Warner Bros. for $72 billion in cash and stock following its pending separation from Discovery Global. Shares of Netflix fell 2.9%, while shares of Paramount Skydance, which had previously been considered the favorite to buy Warner Bros., fell 9.8%.
This week, the focus will be on what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates, whether too many dollars are flowing into artificial intelligence technology and whether the sharp decline in cryptocurrencies will spill over into other markets.
After some hesitation, there is widespread expectation among traders that the Fed will cut its key interest rate on Wednesday in hopes of supporting the slowing US labor market. If this happens, it will be the third reduction this year.
Lower interest rates raise investment prices and help the economy. The downside is that they could worsen inflation, which remains stubbornly above the Fed's 2% target.
Economic reports released on Friday did little to change expectations of the upcoming contraction. One said the core inflation measure the Fed prefers to use came in at 2.8% in September, as economists had expected.
A separate report said U.S. consumers appear to be lowering their expectations for near-term inflation. According to the University of Michigan, they now forecast inflation of 4.1% for the coming year, up from a forecast of 4.5% last month.
This is the lowest forecast since January, which is important because elevated inflation expectations could create a vicious cycle that will only worsen inflation.
In other trading Monday morning, benchmark U.S. crude oil added 11 cents to $60.19 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, also rose 11 cents to $63.86 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 155.09 Japanese yen from 155.30 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.1651 from $1.1639.
