Asia-Pacific shares were mixed as traders looked ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday, which will inform the central bank’s next moves on its rate-hiking decision.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 71.78 points, or 0.3%, to 28,309.16,
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 68.71 points, or 0.3%, to 20,534.48.
Australian markets gained as the Reserve Bank of Australia raised its overnight cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.6%, which would mark the highest rate since June 2012. The country also posted a narrow trade surplus for January, according to official data.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 dropped 60.16 points, or 1.5%, to 4,048.85.
China saw its exports fall by 6.8% in February, declining less than expectations of a 9.4% drop, according to economists surveyed by Reuters. The drop was also less than the previous month’s fall of 9.9%.
Imports also fell 10.2%, down more than expectations to see a drop of 5.5% on an annualized basis and a further decline from the previous month’s contraction of 7.5%.
The economy’s trade surplus in U.S. dollar terms were at $116.88 billion, higher than expected and an increase from the previous month’s surplus of $78 billion.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times picked up 5.96 points, or 0.2%, to 3,245.27.
In Taiwan, the Taiex jumped 94.38 points, or 0.6%, to 15,857.89.
In Korea, the Kospi inched up 0.73 points to 2,463.35.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 acquired 7.08 points, or 0.1%, to 11,919.56.
In Australia, the ASX 200 tacked on 36.06 points, or 0.5%, to 7,364.65.
