Stocks in Asia Pacific were mixed on Tuesday afternoon as investors await the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision.
Stocks in mainland China continued to lead gains among the region’s major markets for a second day after Monday’s blockbuster gains. The Shenzhen component jumped 2.842% while the Shanghai composite rose 1.32% by the afternoon.
On Monday, the Shanghai composite soared nearly 6% after the state-owned China Securities Journal said investors should look forward to the “wealth effect of the capital markets” and the prospect for a “healthy bull market.”
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.12%.
Elsewhere, however, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.65% in afternoon trade while the Topix index shed 0.66%. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.51%.
Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.72%. Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index advanced 0.2%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to announce its interest rate decision at about 12:30 p.m. HK/SIN on Tuesday.
“The RBA this afternoon can confidently expected to be on hold as it continues to assess the outlook, where even in its best-case upside scenario, full economic recovery will take years,” Ray Attrill, head of foreign exchange strategy at National Australia Bank, wrote in a note.
Overnight stateside, stocks on Wall Street saw strong gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 459.67 points, or 1.8%, to close at 26,287.03. The S&P 500 advanced 1.6% to end its trading day at 3,179.72. The Nasdaq Composite hit an all-time high, surging 2.2% to close at 10,433.65.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 96.76 after touching an earlier low of 96.6.
The Japanese yen traded at 107.38 per dollar following a strengthening from levels above 107.6 yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6963 after bouncing from levels around $0.695 yesterday.
Oil prices dipped in the afternoon of Asian trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 0.44% to $42.91 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also shed 0.42% to $40.46 per barrel.
