Stocks in major Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Tuesday as investors reacted to the October fixing of China’s benchmark lending rate.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 sagged 104.09 points, or 0.4%, to 23,567.04.
Shares of Japan Exchange Group were down 1.5% on the day, following local media reports that the country’s financial regulators are set to conduct an on-site inspection at the Tokyo Stock Exchange after a technical issue earlier in October that halted trading for a day.
The Japanese yen traded at 105.49 per U.S. dollar following an earlier low of 105.61 against the greenback.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 27.28 points, or 0.1%, to 24,569.54
Shares of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix fell 1.7% after the firm said Tuesday it will buy Intel’s NAND memory and storage business for $9 billion U.S.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7038 after slipping from levels above $0.71 yesterday.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 picked up 37.98 points, or 0.8%, to 4,793.47.
China’s latest one-year and five-year loan prime rates (LPRs) were left unchanged on Tuesday, in line with expectations from a majority of traders and analysts in a poll. At present, the one-year LPR sits at 3.85% while the five-year rate is at 4.65%.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index edged ahead 11.67 points, or 0.5%, to 2,358.64.
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index slid 45.97 points, or 0.4%, to 12,862.37.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index sank 14.93 points, or 0.6%, to 2,528.64
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 77.14 points, or 0.6%, to 12,462.39.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dropped 44.8 points, or 0.7%, to 6,184.58.
