The gains, which followed another record day on Wall Street, came as traders were also left assessing Washington's decision to impose fresh tech export restrictions on Beijing in the latest volley in a long-running standoff between the rival powers.

Traders began the month on the front foot after a rollercoaster ride since Donald Trump's re-election and warning that he will hit China, Canada and Mexico with hefty tariffs.

With Wall Street closed for the Thanksgiving break, there were few catalysts to drive business heading into the weekend and at the end of a rollercoaster month dominated by uncertainty in the wake of Donald Trump's election victory.

With the United States heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, business in New York was subdued after a flurry of activity since Donald Trump's election win at the start of the month.

Rising geopolitical tensions tempered the atmosphere and lifted oil again after Russia hit Ukraine with a new-generation intermediate-range missile and sent a warning to the West.

Investors are treading carefully this week amid uncertainty after Trump's re-election and as he picks his cabinet, with several China hawks up for key positions fanning worries of another trade war between the economic superpowers.

Equities have seen big swings since Trump's election at the start of the month, with optimism over pledged tax cuts and deregulation offset by worries they could also reignite inflation, along with threatened import tariffs.

A warning from US central bank boss Jerome Powell that reductions in borrowing costs were not preset dented optimism last week, while traders were also keeping tabs on the president-elect's cabinet choices, with several China hawks lined up.

The stock market has officially lost its "Trump bump" after the S&P 500 closed just above the nearly record-high post-election open.

The uncertain performance came at the end of a painful week fuelled by worries about another disruptive China-US trade war.

Bitcoin eased just below the $90,000 level it broke for the first time Wednesday when it hit a record $93,462, with observers expecting it to soon top $100,000 following pro-crypto pledges from the US president-elect.

The prospect of prices spiking again on the back of tax cuts, import tariffs, and an easing of regulations gave fresh impetus to the dollar, which has rallied since the Republican's election win last week.

The sell-off came despite another record close on Wall Street, fuelled by expectations that Trump will push through promised business-friendly policies and hopes that his administration will be pro-crypto, which saw bitcoin push to a new record close to $90,000.

Meanwhile, bitcoin continued to push to new highs, hitting a record $81,891 Monday on optimism that Trump will ease regulations surrounding the cryptocurrency.

Asia took up the baton in early trade but some markets fell away in the afternoon. Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Taipei and Jakarta rose.

The Trump Trade went into overdrive Wednesday as it emerged the tycoon would return to the White House after beating Democrat Kamala Harris, while his Republican Party gained control of the Senate and looked set to hold the House of Representatives.

Eyes will also be on the Federal Reserve's policy decision on Thursday, with expectations for another cut, while the post-meeting statement from bank boss Jerome Powell will be pored over for an idea about its plans for 2025.

The dollar slipped Monday as a fresh opinion poll in Iowa -- which Trump won in 2016 and 2020 -- showed Harris leading.

Hong Kong was up while Shanghai fell following healthy gains by mainland Chinese markets Thursday, after a forecast-beating manufacturing report.

The three main US stock indices lost ground on Wednesday, and Asian investors appeared to be in a risk-averse mood ahead of a coin-toss US election and after a widely expected decision by the Bank of Japan to leave its main interest rate unchanged.

Investors are eyeing the earnings reports of five of the "Magificent Seven" tech giants due this week, including Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook-parent Meta, and Microsoft.

Oil prices fell as much as five percent in early trade before paring some of their losses.

US futures were holding steady after Elon Musk's company surged nearly 22 percent on the back of higher earnings following a streak of disappointing results, helping to lift the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

Traders had previously been confident that the US central bank would follow up last month's bumper 50-basis-point cut with another at its November meeting and a smaller one in December.

A global rally that has seen several markets hit multiple records -- particularly in New York -- appears to have run out of gas as traders assess the US central bank's plans in the wake of forecast-topping economic data and ahead of a tight presidential election.

Comments from top Federal Reserve officials suggesting they would like to see a slower pace of rate cuts tempered hopes for another bumper cut at the bank's next meeting, while Middle East worries pushed gold to a new record.

Another record day on Wall Street on Friday was unable to inspire a similar rally at the start of the week, with traders also gearing up for the latest company earnings season.

Investors have been clamouring for Beijing to deliver more concrete plans for the country's stuttering economy since last month's slew of stimulus announcements that had fanned hopes officials would unload the "bazooka" policy many have been calling for.

Oil prices rose as traders await Israel's response to Iran's missile barrage last week amid fears of a region-wide war in the Middle East.

Buyers were back in the driving seat in Hong Kong after retreating on Thursday for the first time since Beijing last week unveiled a raft of economy-boosting measures that have brought investors flooding back to the market.