ANKARA
Major Asian stock exchanges closed Thursday mixed after the US Federal Reserve decided to pause its aggressive monetary tightening.
On Wednesday, the Fed also signaled two more rate hikes this year.
The Fed kept its federal funds rate unchanged between 5%-5.25%, as widely expected.
The People’s Bank of China on Thursday cut medium-term lending rate – one-year loan prime rate (LPR) – for the first time in 10 months as post-COVID recovery lost momentum.
The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, fell 0.43% to 3,627 points as of 1000GMT.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged down 0.05% to close at 30,485 points.
Japan’s exports rose 0.6% year-on-year in May versus a market estimate of a 0.8% decline. Its imports slipped 9.9% from a year ago.
The country’s trade deficit plunged 42% annually to hit 1.37 billion yen ($9.7 million) in May.
The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong exchange, surged 2.17% to reach 19,828 points.
China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange also increased 0.74% to 3,252 points, while the Singapore index rose by 0.77% to end the day at 3,242 points.
China’s industrial output ticked up 3.5% in May, slowing from a rise of 5.6% in April and slightly below the market forecast of 3.6%.
China’s retail sales, a key gauge of consumer confidence, surged 12.7% year-on-year in May, below forecasts of a 13.6% hike and easing from April’s 18.4% gain.
The rate was lowered by 10 basis points to 2.65%, the first cut since August 2022.
India’s Sensex index fell 0.48% to close at 62,923.
