Shares in the Asia-Pacific traded mixed on Thursday after Wednesday’s negative session, with stocks in Shenzhen and Shanghai falling sharply.
The Nikkei 225 regained 57.29 points, or 0.2%, to 27,875.91.
The Japanese yen was last trading at 143.69 against the U.S. dollar after a reported “rate check” by the Bank of Japan.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index regained 83.28 points, or 0.4%, to 18,930.38.
Australia’s unemployment rate for August came in at 3.5%, slightly higher than July.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 38.24 points, or 0.9%, to 4,027.12
In China, the central bank kept its one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) unchanged at 2.75%, as expected.
The Chinese yuan could weaken to 7.05 against the U.S. dollar by year-end, according to one expert at Credit Suisse.
The 7 level is “not really a red line” for the country’s central bank anymore, he said, pointing out that the currency crossed that level in 2019, and again in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The yuan now stands at 6.9806 against the greenback.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index nicked ahead 9.96 points, or 0.3%, to 3,267.98.
In Korea, the Kospi index let go of 38.12 points, or 1.6%, to 2,411.42.
In Taiwan, the Taiex backpedaled 9.59 points, or 0.4%, to 14,670.04
In Australia, the ASX 200 gained 14.27 points, or 0.2%, to 6,842.89.
In New Zealand, the NZX eked up 0.9 points to 11,658.94.
