SINGAPORE — Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday following strong gains overnight for shares on Wall Street.
South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.03% to close at 3,043.87, following its return from a Monday holiday.
Shares in mainland China were lower on the day, with the Shanghai composite down 1.21% to 3,508.59 while the Shenzhen component shed 0.715% to 14,751.12. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was more than 1% lower, as of its final hour of trading.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.86% to close at 29,408.17 while the Topix index dipped 0.4% to finish its trading day at 1,894.85.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.4% lower at 6,762.30.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday announced its decision to maintain its current policy settings, including leaving its cash rate at 0.1%.
“The current monetary policy settings are continuing to help the economy by keeping financing costs very low, contributing to a lower exchange rate than otherwise, and supporting the supply of credit and household and business balance sheets,” RBA Governor Philip Lowe said in a statement. “Together, monetary and fiscal policy are supporting the recovery in aggregate demand and the pick-up in employment.”
In Southeast Asia, the Straits Times index in Singapore rose about 0.3% in afternoon trade.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declined 0.24%.
Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 603.14 points to close at 31,535.51 while the S&P 500 advanced 2.38% to finish its trading day at 3,901.82. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.01% to close at 13,588.83.
Oil prices decline
Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures down 1.07% to $63.01 per barrel. U.S. crude futures also shed 1.02% to $60.02 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.231 as it largely held on to gains from late February when it rose from levels below 90.
The Japanese yen traded at 106.85 per dollar, still weaker than levels below 105.7 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7745 following an earlier high of $0.778.
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