Asian stocks today: Markets trade in red as gold tumbles; HSI trims over 500 points, Kospi down 3%

Asian stock markets opened February on a weaker nore, with shares falling and precious metals extending losses after a volatile end to last week on Wall Street. In Hong Kong, HSI was down 554 points or 2% to 26,832. Shanghai and Shenzhen were down 1.1% nd 1.2% respectively. South Korea's Kospi was down 3.7% or 194 points to 5,029. Meanwhile, Nikkei added 99 points or 0.19% to reach 53,422 at 8:50 am IST.Losses in precious metals accelerated. Gold fell more than 2%, extending its slide after registering its biggest one-day drop in over a decade on Friday. Silver also continued to decline, coming off a record 26% plunge on the final trading day of January.Meanwhile in currency market, yen slipped as the dollar strengthened. Cryptocurrencies showed limited recovery. Bitcoin edged higher in early Asian trading after falling below $76,000 during thin weekend trading, returning to levels last seen in the aftermath of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs last year.The broad market moves reflected muted sentiment ahead of a heavy week for global markets, which includes interest-rate decisions from central banks in Europe and the UK, the release of US employment data, and a large number of corporate earnings announcements. On Friday, investors globally had already repositioned to scale back expectations of policy easing under a Federal Reserve led by Warsh.Strength in the dollar last week was driven not only by turmoil in gold and silver, but also by reassessments of the Federal Reserve’s future policy direction. Warsh, if confirmed by the Senate, will take over from Jerome Powell when his term ends in May. In energy markets, OPEC+ confirmed it would keep oil output unchanged in March, completing the final stage of a three-month supply freeze, despite crude prices touching a four-month high amid expectations of a possible US strike against Iran.Meanwhile, in the US, the federal government entered a partial shutdown on Saturday as lawmakers awaited House approval of a funding agreement reached by Trump with Democrats, following nationwide outrage over the killing of a US citizen in Minneapolis by Border Patrol agents.