Shares in Asia-Pacific fell on Friday as China left its benchmark lending rate unchanged.
The Nikkei 225 lost 267.92 points, or 1%, to 27,013.25.
Japanese automaker shares continued to see losses on Friday, with Toyota Motor falling 4.1% while Nissan Motor dropped 7.3% and Honda Motor declined 4.8%.
That came following Toyota’s Thursday announcement that it will slash global production for September by 40% from its previous plan, Reuters reported. Shares of Toyota plunged more than 4% on Thursday after the Nikkei first reported on the firm’s plan.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.65 per U.S. dollar, stronger than levels above 110 seen against the greenback yesterday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 466.61 points, or 1.8%, to 24,849.72, with Friday’s losses leaving the index more than 20% lower from its mid-February high.
Most Chinese tech shares in Hong Kong continued to see another day of heavy losses as regulatory uncertainty surrounding the sector lingered. Shares of Meituan dropped 4.5% while Alibaba fell 2.6% and JD.com declined 2.1%. Tencent, on the other hand, rose 1%.
The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.711, having declined from above $0.728 earlier in the week.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 fell 92.87 points, or 1.9%, to 4,769.27.
China’s one-year loan prime rate (LPR) and five-year LPR were both left unchanged at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively, on Friday. That was in line with expectations of majority of traders and analysts in a snap poll
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index forfeited 37.32 points, or 1.2%, to 3,060.51
In Singapore, the Straits Times regained 15.78 points, or 0.5%, to 3,102.75
In Taiwan, the Taiex index eased back 33.46 points, or 0.2%, to 16,341.94
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 docked 16.49 points, or 0.1%, to 12,940.48.
In Australia, the ASX 200 faded 3.76 points, or 0.1%, at 7,460.87
