by Reuters and a sharp decline from the 4.6% rise in October. However, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was marginally up, while the broad-based Topix was 0.68% higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.21%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was up 0.26%. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index advanced 0.5% after growth in China’s new home prices accelerated in November. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started the day up 0.16%. TICKER COMPANY NAME PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE .N225 Nikkei 225 Index *NIKKEI 38484.62 276.59 0.72 .HSI Hang Seng Index *HSI 19468.27 44.66 0.23 .AXJO S&P/ASX 200 *ASX 200 8438.5 2.3 0.03 .SSEC Shanghai *SHANGHAI 3360.38 33.93 1.02 .KS11 KOSPI Index *KOSPI 2455.42 -0.49 -0.02 .FTFCNBCA CNBC 100 ASIA IDX *CNBC 100 10012.14 67.48 0.68 On Friday in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose to new heights and recorded their best months of 2024 amid a shortened trading day. The S&P 500 added 0.56%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.83%. The Dow climbed 188.59 points, or 0.42%. Both the Dow and S&P 500 notched new intraday and closing highs. Some of the upward momentum came from chip stocks, which popped after Bloomberg reported that the Biden administration was considering additional barriers to the sale of semiconductor equipment to China that weren’t as strong as previously expected. Lam Research rallied more than 3%, while Nvidia jumped more than 2%. — CNBC’s Alex Harring contributed to this report.