Stocks in Asia Pacific were mixed on Wednesday as China’s benchmark lending rate was left unchanged.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 161.7, or 0.8%, to 20,595.15.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.71 per U.S. dollar after weakening from levels below 107.5 yesterday.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong nosed up 11.82 points, or 0.1%, to 24,399.95.
Investors also watched for market reaction to a STAT News report released overnight that raised concerns about the trial results for a potential coronavirus vaccine from Moderna. That initial positive development had sent markets rallying earlier in the week.
The Australian dollar was at $0.654 after seeing an earlier low of $0.6523.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 sank 21.03 points, or 0.5%, to 3,935.22.
The moves came as China’s one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was left unchanged at 3.85%, while the five-year LPR stood pat at 4.65%. That was largely in line with expectations from a survey of traders and analysts, where a majority forecast no changes in either rate at the monthly fixing on Wednesday.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi added 9.03 points, or 0.5%, to 1,989.64
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index surrendered 19.39 points, or 0.8%, to 2,561.94
In Taiwan, the Taiex index advanced 47.36 points, or 0.4%, to 10,907.80
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 deleted 2.08 points to 10,788.06.
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved forward 13.53 points, or 0.2%, to 5,573.05.
