Asian stocks ended mixed in thin trade on Monday, with Japanese markets closed for a holiday. Regional sentiment was underpinned somewhat by hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December and easing Ukraine-Russia tensions.

Gold dropped for a third consecutive session as the dollar hovered near six-month highs ahead of a slew of U.S. economic data due this week, including reports on retail sales, producer price index and weekly jobless claims.

Investors also awaited cues from the Thanksgiving holiday shopping season and earnings results from retailers, including Kohl's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Petco and Urban Outfitters.

Oil prices were little changed in Asian trading after falling nearly 3 percent last week on ceasefire speculation around the Russia/Ukraine war.

After meeting Ukrainian officials in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that negotiators made "significant" advances on the U.S.-backed 28-point plan and that the United States was giving Ukraine flexibility beyond Trump's proposed Nov. 27 response deadline.

China's Shanghai Composite index finished little changed at 3,836.77 as the China-Japan spat continued, with China escalating the dispute over Taiwan at the UN and Japan's defense minister visiting a military base close to Taiwan.

Chip-related stocks rose following reports that the Trump administration was considering allowing sales of Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips to China.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 1.97 percent to 25,716.50. Alibaba Group Holding shares jumped 4.7 percent after the e-commerce leader said it's newly launched Qwen app has seen explosive growth, surpassing 10 million downloads within a week.

Seoul stocks ended slightly lower as investors waited for clearer signals on the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. The Kospi average ended down 0.19 percent at 3,846.06, giving up early gains and extending losses for a second straight session after offshore investors turned net sellers in the afternoon.

Australian markets rallied, with tech, real estate and healthcare stocks leading gains after a Fed official signaled that there are potentially more rate cuts to come.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.29 percent to 8,525.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 1.31 percent higher at 8,800.40.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index gained 0.60 percent to close at 13,499.85, recouping losses from last week.

U.S. stocks rallied on Friday but were down sharply for the week amid growing worries of a potential bubble in artificial intelligence stocks.

The Dow climbed 1.1 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 surged 1 percent after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams described monetary policy as being "modestly restrictive" and said he sees "room for a further adjustment" to rates in the near term.

Investors also cheered data that showed improved consumer sentiment and decreasing inflation expectations.