Asian stocks advanced in thin holiday trade on Friday after the S&P 500 ended higher for a fifth day in a shortened session on Wednesday ahead of the Christmas and Boxing holidays.

Regional trading volumes, remained thin, with markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and much of Europe shut for holidays.

Precious metals climbed, with silver surging past $75 per ounce for the first time and gold hitting a fresh record at $4,531 per ounce, driven by U.S. dollar weakness, rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela, and expectations for two Federal Reserve rate cuts by the end of 2026.

Oil traded higher as investors weighed Venezuela supply risks. The White House has reportedly ordered the U.S. military to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a quarantine of Venezuelan oil for at least the next two months.

Elsewhere, Ukraine has widened the scope of its attacks on Russian energy assets, targeting not only crude refineries but also pipelines and other facilities.

China's Shanghai Composite index inched up 0.10 percent to end at 3,963.68 after a choppy session. The yuan strengthened past the psychological milestone of 7 per dollar in offshore trading for the first time since September 2024 on bets China's central bank would allow gradual appreciation of the currency to boost market confidence.

The move came after the People's Bank of China strengthened its daily reference rate to the strongest level since September 2024.

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