Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Tuesday as investors assessed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s dovish comments on rate cuts that sent Wall Street higher overnight.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 returned from a long weekend to gain 84.4 points, or 0.2%, to 41 275.08
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 287.76 points, or 1.6%, to 17,727.98.
Shares of Japan’s TDK Corporation, the sixth largest stock on the Nikkei by weight, jumped more than 5.4%.
Insurance company Ping An was one of the top losers on Hang Seng, with shares sinking more than 5% as the firm announced that it will cancel $102.6 million A shares in its repurchased securities account. Separately, Chinese insurers proposed to issue $3.5 billion of convertible bonds due in 2029.
Elsewhere, Singapore state investor Temasek announced plans to invest up to $10 billion in India over three years in the country’s financial services and healthcare industries. As of March, the company had 7% of investments in the South Asian nation.
Temasek, which has 19% of its investments in China, said it continues to take a cautious stance due to trade tensions.
Powell said the central bank will not wait until inflation hits 2% to cut interest rates, as the Fed’s policy works with “long and variable lags.” So,
“if you wait until inflation gets all the way down to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long,” he said.
His comments combined with expectations that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s failed assassination attempt will lead to big gains for the party and friendlier fiscal policies pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to close at fresh highs.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 advanced 22.03 points, or 0.6%, to 3,498.28.
Following Monday’s weaker-than-expected China GDP print, Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for China’s full-year gross domestic product to 4.9% from 5%, while JPMorgan cut its predictions from 5.2% to 4.7%.
Investors continue to look for developments from China’s Third Plenum, where high local government debt levels and a push for advanced manufacturing will be on the agenda.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 11.98 points, or 0.3%, to 3,487.91.
In Korea, the Kospi index added 5.17 points, or 0.2%, to 2,866.09
In Taiwan, the Taiex index regained 117.89 points, or 0.5%, to 23,997.25.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 61.35 points, or 0.5%, to 12,184.49.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 18.3 points, or 0.2%, to 7,999.32.
