The RBNZ unexpectedly cut its benchmark cash rate to 5.25%
Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose on Wednesday as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) cut benchmark lending rates and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would step down in September.
Kishida said he would not run for reelection as the Liberal Democratic Party leader, pledging his support to the new LDP leader.
The RBNZ unexpectedly cut its benchmark cash rate to 5.25%.
In South Korea, the country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.5% from 2.8% in July, hitting its lowest point since October 2023.
In Japan, business sentiment at manufacturers turned slightly less confident in August compared with the month before, as per the Reuters Tankan survey.
The Tankan survey — which tracks the BoJ’s quarterly survey of the same name — showed that the sentiment index for manufacturers slid to +10 in August, while the non manufacturers index declined to +24. Both metrics sat at +11 and +26 in July’s survey.
This was due to lacklustre demand from China, which weighed on corporate sentiment, Reuters reported, noting that this survey also comes after the BoJ raised its benchmark interest rates in July to their highest level since 2008.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 0.58% to close at 36,442.43 after Kishida’s announcement, while the broad-based Topix added 1.11% to 2,581.9. Both indexes notched their third consecutive day of gains.
South Korea’s Kospi closed 0.88% higher at 2,644.5, while the small-cap Kosdaq climbed 1.56% to end at 776.83.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 saw a smaller gain of 0.31%, closing at 7,850.7.
The country’s stock regulator is suing the ASX for “making misleading statements” related to its Clearing House Electronic Subregister System, or CHESS, a computer system used to settle trades on the exchange.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) pointed out the ASX had said the replacement project for CHESS was “on track”, but at the time of the announcements, “the project was not tracking to plan and ASX did not have any reasonable basis to imply the project was on track to meet future milestones.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged down 0.6%, but the mainland Chinese CSI 300 was down 0.51%.
