Asia-Pacific stocks mixed as investors assess RBA minutes; China holds benchmark rates

The Asia-Pacific equity markets were trading mixed on Tuesday, tracking the rally on Wall Street, while investors also assessed minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest meeting and China’s central bank left its one-year and five-year loan prime rates unchanged.

The Japan (NKY:IND) +1.98%. The Nikkei 225 Index jumped on Tuesday, recouping losses from the previous session. The Japanese yen steadied around 146.5 per dollar on Tuesday after hitting a near two-week high in the previous session.

China (SHCOMP) -0.93%. The Shanghai Composite fell on Tuesday, reversing gains from the previous session following the People’s Bank of China’s decision to keep key lending rates at record lows in the August fixing, in line with market expectations.

The one-year loan prime rate was held steady at 3.45%, while the five-year rate, a key reference for property mortgages, remained at 3.85%.

Hong Kong (HSI) -0.46%. Shares in Hong Kong fell in Tuesday morning trade, ending the bullish mood in the prior three sessions due to falls from most sectors, notably property, consumers, and tech.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s leader John Lee said Monday that the city was largely safe and stable nowadays and that the global economic center has moved to the East amid growing uncertainties in the West, a volatile interest rate environment, and regional conflicts.

India (SENSEX) +0.58%. India’s shares increased in morning trade on Tuesday while hitting its over two weeks high after being muted in the previous session.

Australia (AS51) +0.22%. The S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed on Tuesday after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s August meeting revealed that the board members discussed further tightening but decided that maintaining the current rate would better balance the risks.

In the U.S., on Monday, all three major indexes ended higher, maintained their upward momentum on Monday, building on the gains from the best week in a year and adding over $3 trillion in value from this month’s lows.

U.S. stock futures held steady on Tuesday after the major averages extended the recent rally that added over $3 trillion in value from this month’s lows: Dow +0.11%; S&P 500 +0.14%; Nasdaq +0.30%.

Cautious investors also anticipated a speech from Fed Chair Powell in Jackson Hole later this week, looking for clues about rate cuts.

Bitcoin climbed back above $60,000 on Tuesday, hitting a one-week high as risk sentiment improved and as global liquidity saw a steady increase.

Currencies: (JPY:USD), (CNY:USD), (AUD:USD), (INR:USD), (HKD:USD), (NZD:USD).

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