SINGAPORE — Hong Kong stocks briefly slipped more than 1% while Asia-Pacific markets traded higher on Thursday. The moves came as Singapore tightened monetary policy and Australia announced that its unemployment rate has fallen.
The Hang Seng index was down 0.22% at 20,751.21 at the close.
Mainland China markets were mixed. The Shenzhen Component reversed earlier losses to rise 0.75% to 12,602.78 and the Shanghai Composite was down fractionally at 3,281.74.
In South Korea, the Kospi slipped 0.27% to 2,322.32 and the Kosdaq was up 0.38%.
The Philippines’ PSE Composite Index dropped 0.12% to 6,248.13 on Thursday, and the peso stood at 56.1 against the dollar. The country’s central bank increased interest rates by 75 basis points in a surprise move in a bid to fight inflation.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.16%.
Asia stocks rise
Stocks climbed elsewhere in Asia.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan pared losses and rose 0.62% to close at 26,643.39 while the Topix index was 0.23% higher at 1,893.13.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.44% higher at 6,650.6.
Australia added 88,400 jobs in June, official data showed, much more than the 30,000 that analysts polled by Reuters predicted.
The country’s unemployment rate was at 3.5%, lower than the 3.8% expected and a 48-year low, Reuters reported.
Singapore GDP, monetary policy
In economic data, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry said advance estimates show the country’s gross domestic product grew 4.8% in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same period a year ago. That’s up from 4% in the first quarter of the year, but lower than the 5.2% growth that analysts in a Reuters poll expected.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore tightened monetary policy in an off-cycle move Thursday. The central bank said it will re-center the mid-point of the exchange rate policy band, known as the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate, up to its prevailing level.
The slope and width of the band will not change, the MAS said. The central bank manages monetary policy through setting the exchange rate and not interest rates.
No comments:
Post a Comment