Asia-Pacific markets exhibited a generally range-bound performance on Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index standing out by extending its rally and rising 2.6%, stimulated by economic measures from China.
Chinese markets surged the previous day following the nation’s central bank’s announcement of various economic support initiatives. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) recorded its most significant day in seven months, while mainland China’s CSI 300 achieved its largest one-day gain in over four years.
On Wednesday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) reduced the medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate to 2%, down from 2.3%. This marks the second reduction to the MLF within approximately three months, following a cut from 2.5% to 2.3% in late July.
Additionally, the offshore yuan momentarily strengthened to 6.995 against the U.S. dollar, crossing the 7.00 level for the first time since May 2023.
Investors are currently evaluating Australia’s inflation data, with the consumer price index showing a 2.7% year-on-year increase in August. This figure aligns with economist expectations polled by Reuters and marks a decrease from the 3.5% rise in July.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index experienced a marginal rise, recovering from two consecutive days of losses. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was slightly down, but the broader Topix index increased by 0.3%. In South Korea, the Kospi rose by 0.4%, while the small-cap Kosdaq saw an increase of 0.43%. South Korea also announced the “Korea Value Up Index,” with trading set to commence on Monday. This index will consist of 100 companies, with IT and industrial stocks constituting over 40%.
In the United States, the S&P 500 reached a new record on Tuesday, increasing by 0.25% to 5,732.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average similarly added 0.2%, closing at a new record of 42,208.22. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 0.56%, driven by gains in chipmaker Nvidia’s shares. Nvidia’s stock climbed nearly 4% after a regulatory filing indicated that CEO Jensen Huang had completed his intended stock sales.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.
