Asian share markets rose in thin trading on Thursday as much of the region was on holiday for the Lunar New Year, while the U.S. dollar held its ground after the Federal Reserve signaled a pause in policy easing.

Asian stocks have advanced in thin Lunar New Year trading following a rebound on Wall Street driven by tech stocks as the panic over Chinese AI company DeepSeek faded. Most markets in Asia were closed on Wednesday.

Many of the region’s biggest equity markets — including those in Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea — are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Asian shares wavered on Friday, weighed down by the return of tech-heavy South Korean stocks from holidays, but relatively strong earnings from U.S. tech giants kept risk sentiment intact while tariff threats pushed the dollar and gold prices higher.

Shares in Japan opened slightly lower, weighing down a gauge of Asian equities despite a small gain for shares in Australia. Many of the region’s equity markets including China, South Korea and Taiwan remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.