Asia-Pacific markets rose on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia held its cash rate target steady at 3.60% with the Australian dollar weakening against the U.S. dollar following the move.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 99.27 points, or 0.4%, to 28,287.42.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 134.59 points, or 0.7%, to 20,274.59.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has held its its benchmark interest rate at 3.6%.
This marks the first halt in the RBA’s hiking cycle since it started raising rates in April 2022.
The Australian dollar weakened following the move to 0.6782 against the U.S. dollar.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 nicked ahead 12.54 points, or 0.3%, to 4,103.11.
Shares of Chinese electric vehicle makers slid sharply on Tuesday, following the moves of Tesla shares falling 6% on Monday, after its deliveries report raised investor concern that the company will further slash prices of its cars further in a bid to drive sales.
Chinese EV makers Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto were all lower on Wednesday, with Nio shares notably seeing a 8.18% slide. Xpeng and Li Auto saw losses of 5.07% and 3.28% respectively.
Li Auto largely reported better deliveries for the first quarter of 2023.
In other markets
Markets in Taiwan returned to trade after a long weekend, with the Taiex better by 18.63 points, or 0.1%, to 15,868.06
In Singapore, the Straits Times climbed 30.04 points, or 0.9%, to 3,311.12.
In Korea, the Kospi regained 8.17 points, or 0.3%, to 2,480.51.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 59.77 points, or 0.5%, to 11,898.56.
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 13.01 points, or 0.2%, to 7,236.02.
