Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed on Tuesday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropping as much as 2% before paring some losses, as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve to kick off its monetary loosening cycle.
The index returned to trading after a long weekend with a loss of 378.54 points, or 1%, to 35,203.22.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index shot higher 237.90 points, or 1.4%, to 17,660.02.
Shares of Chinese appliance maker Midea Group surged over 9% in their Hong Kong debut from their offer price of HK$54.80 apiece. This is the city’s largest listing in more than three years.
Japan stocks fell as the yen strengthened for a sixth straight session, last at 140.65 against the dollar. It had appreciated to 139.58 yen overnight, its strongest level since July 2023.
The Fed is expected to announce its first interest rate cut since March 2022, but markets are split over the size of the reduction from the two-day policy meeting which begins Tuesday.
U.S. retail sales data is also set to take center stage as investors monitor the health of the consumer in the lead up to the Fed’s meeting.
Traders in Asia will also parse Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports for August, which rose 10.7% from a year ago, official data showed Tuesday, while falling 4.7% from the previous month. The figures compare with a Reuters forecast of a 15% year-on-year expansion and a 3.3% month-on-month drop.
In other markets,
Markets in Taiwan and Korea were shuttered for holiday.
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dipped 13.22 points, or 0.4%, to 3,159.22.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index gained 22.99 points, or 0.6%, to 3,593.42.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 ditched 32.44 points, or 0.3%, to 12,671.95.
In Australia, the ASX 200 picked up 19.3 points, or 0.2%, to 8,140.90.
