Asian markets showed little movement on Monday as several trading floors closed for Lunar New Year celebrations. Japan’s disappointing economic growth of just 0.1 per cent in late 2025 added pressure on newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Meanwhile, US markets will stay shut for Presidents’ Day, and gold prices dipped slightly after reaching $5,000 per ounce.The holiday closures affected mainland China, Seoul, and Taipei, while Hong Kong and Singapore operated only half-day sessions. The slow trading day followed a tech sector decline last week, triggered by worries about massive AI infrastructure investments.Japan’s weak GDP numbers fell short of the expected 0.4% growth, creating challenges for Takaichi, who won recent elections promising economic improvement.“The weak growth implies that the large supplementary budget passed at the end of November provided no boost to public spending last quarter just yet,” said Marcel Thieliant at Capital Economics. He suggested Takaichi might need to act quickly on tax reforms and new budgets.Most Asian markets saw minor losses. Tokyo dropped 0.03%, while Hong Kong managed a 0.4% gain. The market mood improved after US inflation data showed a bigger-than-expected cooling in January.The AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, featuring tech leaders like OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai, starts Monday. The event comes amid growing concerns about AI’s social and environmental impacts, despite its role in boosting tech company profits.“US inflation data was good. And the initial response in equities reflected that. But the devil was in the details,” noted Kyle Rodda, adding that core inflation hit its lowest level since March 2021 at 2.4%.In precious metals, gold’s slight decline came after Friday’s gains. Standard Chartered’s note remained optimistic: “We expect gold to remain well supported,” citing expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts supporting gold demand.
