SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific were higher in Wednesday morning trade. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept interest rates unchanged despite expectations of a hike.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.37% while the Topix index climbed 0.4%. Japan’s government on Tuesday decided to extend the Covid-19 state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas to Sept. 12, local news agency Kyodo News reported.
Mainland Chinese stocks advanced as the Shanghai composite gained 0.34% while the Shenzhen component rose 0.519%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded 0.48% higher.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.32%. Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose fractionally.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.09% higher.
RBNZ holds steady on rates
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced Wednesday that it would keep its monetary settings unchanged, leaving the official cash rate at 0.25%. Analysts had expected that New Zealand could be the first advanced economy in Asia-Pacific to raise interest rates in the pandemic era of easy monetary policy.
In a release, the New Zealand central bank said the decision was “made in the context” of the government’s imposition of a nationwide lockdown. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the lockdown on Wednesday following the discovery of a Covid case in Auckland.
Following that decision, the New Zealand dollar declined to $0.6896, following a drop from above $0.696 yesterday.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 282.12 points to 35,343.28 while the S&P 500 slipped 0.71% to 4,448.08. The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.93% to 14,656.18.
Currencies and oil
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 93.083 following a recent jump from below 92.8.
The Japanese yen traded at 109.53 per dollar, weaker than levels below 109.5 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7249 as it struggles to recover after falling from above $0.732 earlier in the week.
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with Brent crude futures falling 0.13% to $68.94 per barrel. U.S. crude futures declined 0.14% to $66.50 per barrel.
Source: CNBC