Asia stocks edge higher in dull trade.

Asian stocks edged higher in lackluster trade on Thursday, a day after Christmas as markets in Hong Kong and Australia remained closed for the holiday.

Mainland Chinese stocks rose with Shanghai composite going up 0.85% to around 3,007.35. The Shenzhen component added 0.72% to 10,303.72.

The Shenzhen composite also gained 0.721% to about 1,709.45.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan closed 0.6% higher at 23,924.92.

Topix index added 0.57% to finish the trading day at 1,731.20.

South Korea’s Kospi also gained, ending 0.36% higher at 2,197.93 as shares of chipmaker SK Hynix jumped about 1%.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was 0.11% higher.

Major markets remained closed for Chrismas

Hong Kong, South Korea, and Australia remained closed on Wednesday for Christmas.

The market moves followed another muted session on Wall Street Tuesday, on Christmas Eve.  

The Nasdaq Composite rose slightly to touch a new record high of 8,952.88. It was the first time since 1998 that the index posted its ninth uninterrupted record close. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.08 points to close at 28,515.45, while the S&P 500 ended its trading day little changed at 3,223.38.

Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index last traded at 97.650 after seeing an earlier low of 97.609.

The Japanese yen traded at 109.54 per dollar after seeing an earlier high of 109.31. 

The Australian dollar traded at $0.6929 after touching an earlier low of $0.6915.

Oil prices rose in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures adding 0.28% to $67.39 per barrel. 

U.S. crude futures also gained 0.28% to $61.28 per barrel.