Asia-Pacific Stocks Mixed; JD.com, Netease Shares in Hong Kong Jump

Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Monday as China kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dipped 0.39%, closing at 24,951.34. Hong Kong-listed shares of JD.com and NetEase gained 1.93% and 3.02%, respectively, following a Friday announcement that the two stocks are set to be included in the benchmark Hang Seng index from Dec. 6.

In mainland China, the Shanghai composite rose 0.61% to close at 3,582.08 while the Shenzhen component advanced 1.411% to 14,960.66.

China on Monday kept the one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) unchanged at 3.85%. The five-year LPR was also left steady at 4.65%.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed about 0.1% higher at 29,774.11 while the Topix index declined fractionally to 2,042.82.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi gained 1.42% to close at 3,013.25 as shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics soared 5.2%.

Australian stocks declined on the day as the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.59% to 7,353.10. While the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.23%.

ADVERTISEMENT

Asian Markets Currencies and oil

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 96.151 following a recent bounce from around 95.6.

The Japanese yen traded at 114.15 per dollar, stronger than levels above 114.5 seen against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at 0.7245 after dropping from above $0.735 last week.

Crude oil prices fell to seven-week lows on Monday, extending declines after the previous session’s slide, on concerns about excess supply after Japan said it was weighing releasing oil reserves and over demand from a worsening Covid-19 situation in Europe.

Brent lost 57 cents, or 0.72%, to $78.32 a barrel as of 0206 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 39 cents, or 0.51%, at $75.55 a barrel.