the Nikkei of Japan falls; New Zealand central bank raises interest rates

SINGAPORE – Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mostly down on Wednesday, with Japan leading the losses.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost its earlier gains to fall 1.47%, while the Topix index fell 0.65%. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 1.12%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.46%. Australian stocks also fell, with the S & P / ASX 200 falling 0.51%.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s Straits Times index reversed the trend, rising 0.27%. The Indian Nifty 50 also gained 0.19%.

Overall, the largest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific equities excluding Japan, however, was down 0.38%.

Mainland Chinese markets remain closed for the holidays on Wednesday.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) on Wednesday raised its official exchange rate to 0.5%, joining South Korea and Norway among the first countries to raise rates in the era of the pandemic.

“The Committee noted that further removal of monetary policy stimulus is expected over time, with future measures contingent on medium-term inflation and employment prospects,” the RBNZ said in a statement. communicated.

Following the news of the rate hike, the New Zealand dollar briefly jumped above $ 0.697, before retreating from those levels and last trading at $ 0.6929.

Overnight in the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 311.75 points to 34,314.67 while the S&P 500 jumped 1.05% to 4,345.75. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.25% to 14,433.83.

Despite Tuesday’s gains, the top three Wall Street averages are still down for the week.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 94.042 after rebounding earlier in the week below 93.9.

The Japanese yen was trading at 111.62 per dollar, lower than the levels below 111.2 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7265, still above the below $ 0.728 levels seen yesterday.

Oil prices were lower in the afternoon of trading hours in Asia, as international benchmark Brent crude futures fell slightly to $ 82.51 a barrel. US crude futures fell 0.11% to $ 78.84 a barrel.