Wall Street's decline extends to 2025 while Asia-Pacific markets open higher.

• The Financial Times reported that the People's Bank of China plans to make interest rate cuts "at an appropriate time" this year, with the country's 7-day reverse repo rate currently set at 1.5%.
• An arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been executed by South Korea's corruption watchdog, as reported by local media Yonhap News.

Wall Street peers ended lower on the first trading session of 2025, while Asia-Pacific markets opened higher, bucking the trend set by tech stocks.

The Financial Times reported that the People's Bank of China plans to cut interest rates "at an appropriate time" this year, with the country's 7-day reverse repo rate currently set at 1.5%.

The Chinese commerce ministry plans to impose export restrictions on specific technology used for battery components and processing critical minerals such as lithium and gallium, as stated in a notice issued on Thursday.

The political uncertainty in South Korea will continue to be assessed by investors in Asia as the country's corruption watchdog attempts to execute an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to local media Yonhap News. Yoon's short-lived martial law attempt on Dec. 3 has led to a political turmoil in the country.

The small-cap Kosdaq in South Korea rose 1.65%, while SK Hynix's shares surged 4.32% a day after the chipmaker announced plans to position itself as a "full stack AI memory provider" at Consumer Electronics Show 2025 next week.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.50%.

Hong Kong's stock market index, the Hang Seng, ended the day with a lower open, standing at 19,610, below its last close of 19,623.32.

Japan markets remain closed for a holiday.

The three major U.S. stock market indices finished the first trading session of the new year with lower prices, indicating that the market weakness that ended 2024 may continue, and a "Santa Claus rally" may not occur this year.

The S&P 500 has typically gained an average of 1.3% during the last five trading days of a year and the first two trading days of the following January, with nearly 80% of the time finishing higher, according to Dow Jones Market Data going back to 1950.

In the US market, the blue-chip stock lost 151.95 points or 0.36%, ending at 42,392.27. Meanwhile, the stock dropped 0.22% to 5,868.55, and the tech-heavy stock shed 0.16% to 19,280.79.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have experienced their longest losing streaks since April, with the fifth consecutive session in the red. The decline was driven by big tech stocks, including Apple, which fell 2.6%, and Tesla, which slumped 6% on lower annual deliveries.

— CNBC's Jesse Pound and Christina Cheddar Berk contributed to this report.