Asia markets mixed as investors weigh concerns over Fed hikes; China cuts benchmark lending rates
Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed on Monday as concerns over aggressive Fed hikes reemerged.
Chinese markets rose after China cut its benchmark lending rates. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up around 0.2%.
The Shanghai Composite was 0.57% higher, and the Shenzhen Component gained 0.899%.
China’s central bank cut its one-year benchmark lending rate by 5 basis points to 3.65% and its five-year rate by 15 basis points to 4.3%.
“We think the asymmetric cuts … aim to support long-term borrowing and in particular mortgages, as overall credit supply remains ample while credit demand is sluggish,” analysts wrote in a Goldman Sachs Economic Research note Monday.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Japan pared some losses but was down 0.57% and the Topix index slipped 0.23%.
South Korea’s Kospi shed 1% and the Kosdaq lost 1.4%.
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dipped 0.9%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan was 0.48% lower.
“Recent Fed speakers have been stressing the message that more rate hikes are coming given the fight against inflation has not yet been won,” Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank wrote in a Monday note.
Investors are looking ahead to the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole economic symposium which begins Thursday stateside.
Net profit stood at 48.1 million Australian dollars ($33.2 million), while first half revenue increased 8% year-on-year to $812.4 million Australian dollars. It was “driven primarily by strong construction and mining sector demand and improved pricing across most products,” the company said in a report.
Underlying net profit after tax was hit in part by operational challenges related to extreme wet weather events on the east coast of Australia and higher costs, the company said.
