Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mostly higher on Wednesday as investors in Asia-Pacific reacted to the release of China’s latest benchmark lending rate.
Mainland Chinese stocks were higher, with the Shanghai composite rising about 0.1% while the Shenzhen component gained 0.812%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1%.
The moves in Chinese stocks came as the one-year prime rate (LPR) and five-year LPR in China were both left unchanged at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively. It was in line with expectations of a majority of traders and analysts in a snap Reuters poll.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.37% while the Topix index shed 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.42% higher.
Shares in Australia edged higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.6%.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 0.7%. The moves came after reports that almost all states in the country will be placed under Movement Control Order from Friday as the government seeks to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares traded 0.87% higher.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 90.408 following an earlier high above 90.7.
The Japanese yen traded at 103.81 per dollar, stronger than an earlier level of 103.93 against the greenback. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7707, still off levels above $0.775 seen last week.
Oil prices were higher in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures up 0.45% to $56.15 per barrel. U.S. crude futures advanced about 0.45% to $53.22 per barrel.
Source: CNBC