Asian equity markets opened mixed on Monday with Hong Kong stocks losing ground as the US government shutdown frayed nerves.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 137 points, or 0.5 percent, to open at 27,003.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,984.

Markets in the mainland, Taiwan and South Korea were closed for holidays.

Gold surged past the US$3,900-an-ounce level for the first time on Monday, driven by safe-haven demand following a fall in the yen and a US government shutdown, while growing expectations of additional Federal Reserve rate cuts also lent support.

"Yen weakness on the back of the Japanese LDP elections has left investors with one less safe-haven asset to go to, and gold was able to capitalise," said KCM Trade chief market analyst Tim Waterer.

"The enduring US government shutdown means that a cloud of uncertainty still hangs over the US economy and the potential size of any GDP impact."

An unconfirmed report that US President Donald Trump might be considering ways to reduce the cost of his higher tariffs on auto parts and other materials for US manufacturers helped automakers' share prices.

Toyota Motor Corp's shares jumped 4.9 percent in Tokyo and Honda Motor gained 4.7 percent.

On Friday, most US stocks ticked higher, adding to Wall Street records.

Usually, the first Friday of each month has Wall Street transfixed on the monthly jobs update that the US government publishes. It shows how many jobs employers created and destroyed, while also updating the unemployment rate.

But the shutdown of the US government, now in its third day, delayed the release of that data.

Such information is particularly important now, given how much on Wall Street is riding on the expectation that the job market is continuing to slow by enough to get the Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates.

Past shutdowns of the US government have tended not to hurt the economy or stock market much, and the thinking is that this one could be similar, even if Trump has threatened large-scale firings of federal workers this time around. (Agencies/Xinhua)