Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Asian Stocks Up, Investors Digest Cut in Chinese Benchmark Lending Rate

Published 2022-01-19, 10:18 p/m
Updated 2022-01-19, 10:18 p/m
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly up on Thursday morning after China’s central bank cut its benchmark lending rate.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.57% by 10:06 PM ET (3:06 AM GMT). Trade data released earlier in the day showed that the trade balance was –JPY582.4 billion ($5.09 billion) and the adjusted trade balance was –JPY0.44 trillion in December. Exports grew 17.5% and imports grew 41.1%.

South Korea’s KOSPI inched up 0.07%.

In Australia, the ASX 200 edged down 0.19%. Data released earlier in the day showed that the employment change was 64,800, the full employment change was 41,500 and the unemployment rate was 4.2% in December.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 1.80%.

China’s Shanghai Composite edged down 0.19% while the Shenzhen Component inched up 0.01%. The People’s Bank of China on Thursday cut the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) from 3.8% per cent to 3.7%, and the five-year LPR from 4.65% to 4.6%.

U.S. Treasury yields fell but remained higher for the week thanks to continually high inflation and expectations of U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hikes as soon as March 2022.

“The market is now facing uncertainty regarding both rate hikes and the balance sheet,” Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF) Bank global head of G-10 FX research Steven Englander said in a note.

“We therefore see scope for the recent volatility to continue near term,” the note added.

At a press conference marking his first year in office, U.S. President Joe Biden passed the responsibility of curbing high inflation to the Fed and supported the central bank’s asset tapering plans. He also signaled that his proposed $2 trillion economic agenda could be broken up.

Central banks in Indonesia, Malaysia, Norway, Turkey, and Ukraine will also hand down their policy decisions on Thursday.

At the press conference, Biden also indicated that he will not ease tariffs on China yet, and with Russia likely to “move in” on Ukraine, such a step would hurt Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “badly.”

Meanwhile, company earnings were also on investors’ radars. U.S. companies including Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), and Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) released upbeat earnings but failed to lift investor sentiment. More earnings, including from Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), are due for the rest of the week.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.