Investors watch computer screens displaying stock price figures at a stock exchange hall.
Jiang Sheng | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets started the week higher after most major bourses ended lower in the previous session, while China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged.
The People’s Bank of China’s one-year loan prime rate — the peg for most household and corporate loans in China — was at 3.45%. The five-year benchmark loan rate — the peg for most mortgages — stood at 4.2%.
Hong Kong stocks led declines in Asia-Pacific on Friday, as shares of Alibaba plunged after the Chinese e-commerce giant said it would not proceed with the full spinoff of its cloud group.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened 0.8% higher, while China’s CSI 300 fell 0.3%.
Japan’s markets struggled to extend Friday’s gains, with the Nikkei 225 down 0.11% and the Topix lower by 0.34%. Investors will be watching for Japan’s October inflation figures on Friday.
South Korea’s Kospi rose about 0.5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq saw a larger gain of 1.3%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was near the flatline.
On Friday, the S&P 500 ended higher and clinched a third straight winning week amid a red-hot November rally.
The broader index added 0.13%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day higher by 0.01%, while the Nasdaq Composite crept up by 0.08%.
The main U.S. indexes clocked their third straight positive week. The S&P 500 added 2.2%, while the Nasdaq jumped about 2.4%. The Dow closed the week with a 1.9% advance. This is the first three-week win streak for the Dow and S&P 500 since July, and the first since June for the Nasdaq.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Brian Evans contributed to this report
Source link: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/20/live-markets-asia-markets-set-to-bounce-china-lpr-eyed-.html