Asian stocks mixed in quiet end of year trading

Asian shares are mixed at the outset of the last trading week of the year as countries grapple with the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant

BANGKOK -- Asian shares were mixed on Monday at the outset of the last trading week of the year as countries grappled with the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant.

Benchmarks rose in Shanghai and Bangkok on Monday but fell in Tokyo and Seoul. Many global markets are closed for holidays.

Comments by China's central bank, or People's Bank of China, about support for the economy highlighted differences in stance among major economies in balancing the need to support economic recoveries from the pandemic while keeping inflation in check.

The Federal Reserve is among a handful of central banks that have already begun cutting interest rates or otherwise cutting back on the extra support they provided when the pandemic first slammed world economies in early 2020.