Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday, with major markets in Japan and China still closed for holidays.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.42 per U.S. dollar, still weaker than levels below 108.6 against the greenback seen last week.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index recovered 199.6 points, or 0.7%, to 28,557.14.
Investors also continued to monitor the COVID-19 situation in India as it shows little signs of slowing down. The World Health Organization said last week that one in every three new coronavirus cases globally is being reported in India.
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday announced its decision to maintain its current policy settings, including keeping the cash rate at 0.1%.
Meanwhile, official data released Tuesday showed Australia’s trade surplus narrowing in March. The seasonally adjusted trade surplus for March came in at 5.574 billion Australian dollars (about $4.31 billion U.S.), according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That was a more-than-two-billion-Australian-dollar decline from February.
Economists had forecast a trade surplus of eight billion Australian dollars.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7734, following levels below $0.772 seen yesterday.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times index docked 5.63 points, or 0.2%, to 3,179.13.
In Korea, the Kospi index regained 20.17 points, or 0.6%, to 3,147.37.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index tumbled 288.57 points, or 1.7%, to 16,933.78
In New Zealand the NZX 50 gained 143.35 points, or 1.1%, to 12,912.20
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 39.06 points, or 0.6%, to 7,067.85.
