Asia-Pacific markets were mostly up on Tuesday, tracking a Wall Street rally overnight, while investors also assessed minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest meeting.
The Nikkei 225 index regained 674.30 points, or 1.8%, to 38,062.92, powered by utilities and healthcare stocks.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index retreated 58.49 points, or 0.3%, to 17,511.08.
Korean stocks soared as consumer sentiment in August retreated from a two year high of 103.6, coming in at 100.8, with South Korean media outlet Yonhap reporting that this was “due to U.S. recession woes and the subsequent stock market rout.” A figure above 100 indicates that optimists outnumber pessimists.
Shares of real estate firm Kaisa dropped 1.9% to 10.15 Hong Kong cents after jumping as much as 14% as the company announced a debt restructuring agreement, consisting of an issue of $5 billion in senior notes and $4.8 billion in mandatory convertible bonds.
Minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s August meeting were released on Tuesday. At the meeting, the bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 4.35%, but noted that inflation remained “above target” and was “proving persistent.”
The central bank said in its release that the board members had considered the case for raising the interest rate, but decided to leave it unchanged as the flow of data since the previous meeting “had not been sufficient to warrant a change in the stance of monetary policy. “
However, the RBA warned that it was “unlikely” that rates would be reduced in the short term, adding that “it was not possible to either rule in or rule out future changes in the cash rate target.”
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 lost 24.27 points, or 0.7%, to 3,332.70.
China’s loan prime rates were held at 3.35% for the one-year LPR and 3.85% for the five-year LPR, in line with expectations from a Reuters poll of economists.
The one-year LPR acts as the benchmark for most corporate loans, and the five-year LPR serves as a reference rate for mortgages.
In other markets
In Taiwan, the Taiex index moved higher 19.47 points, or 0.1%, to 22,429.10.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index grabbed 14.75 points, or 0.4%, to 3,370.31.
In Korea, the Kospi index recovered 22.27 points, or 0.8%, to 2,696.63.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 104.03 points, or 0.8%, to 12,558.08.
In Australia, the ASX 200 took on 17.29 points, or 0.2%, to 7,997.73.
