Buildings in the Lujiazui Pudong Financial District in Shanghai, China, Monday, January 29, 2024.
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Asia-Pacific markets rose on Tuesday, led by Chinese shares as Beijing announced policy easing measures in a rare briefing from central bank governor Pan Gongsheng.
The PBOC will reduce the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 50 basis points, although it did not give a specific timeline. It also announced it would cut its seven-day repurchase rate from 1.7% to 1.5%.
Other measures also include reducing down payments for second homes, as well as 1 trillion yuan ($141.78 billion) in long-term funds.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index rose 2.18% at the open, while mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 1%.
Australia’s central bank will also announce a rate decision on Tuesday, with economists polled by Reuters expecting the RBA to hold rates at 4.35%.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a note last week that the flow of economic data since the last meeting “has been softer or in line with the RBA’s expectations.” As such, CBA expects a slightly less hawkish statement, but sees no material change in language or tone.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose slightly ahead of the RBA decision.
Japan Nikkei 225 was 1.47% higher, while Topix gained 1% as the Japanese market returned from the holidays. This is the first time that the Nikkei has crossed the 38,000 mark since September 3.
South Korea Kospi was 0.6% up, while small-cap Kosdaq up 0.68%.
Hong Kong Hang Seng Index futures are at 18,462, higher than HSI’s last close of 18,247.11.
Overnight in the US, the Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.14%, also mirroring the gains made by two other major US indices.
At S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average touched a new closing high in Monday’s trading session.
The broad market index added 0.28% to 5,718.57, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 61.29 points, or 0.15%, to close at 42,124.65.
—CNBC’s Brian Evans and Alex Harring contributed to this report.
