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Chinese markets clocked their best week in almost 16 years as the mainland’s CSI 300 rallied 15.7% this week, buoyed by several economic stimulus measures by the central bank.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 kept on the march, this time, 903.93 points, or 2.8%, to 39,829.56.
The index hit its highest since July 19 and has erased all its losses after the July 30 Bank of Japan rate decision.
The yen strengthened after former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba won the race to lead Japan’s ruling party on Friday, lining him up to become the country’s next prime minister.
The leading candidate from the first round of voting was economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, who has advocated for a dovish monetary policy.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 707.92 points, or 3.6%, to 20,632.30, its highest since February 2023.
Investors are also assessing September inflation numbers from Japan’s capital city of Tokyo, which is widely considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends.
Tokyo’s headline inflation rate eased to 2.2%, down from August’s 2.6%.
The core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — in the capital city came in at 2%, in line with expectations from economists polled by Reuters and down from 2.4% in August.
CHINA
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 added 158.36 points, or 4.5%, to 3,703.68, its highest level in about a year.
The PBOC said the RRR cut was intended to help “create a good monetary and financial environment for China’s stable economic growth and high-quality development,” according to a statement translated by Google.
China also released its industrial profit data for August, which saw a 17.8% plunge year on year. The drop follows a 4.1% year-on-year increase in July, the fastest pace in five months.
On a year-to-date basis, profits at large industrial firms grew at 0.5% to 4.65 trillion yuan ($663.47 billion) for the first eight months, compared with 3.6% in the first seven months.
As this data is up to August, investors will have to wait for the next batch of data to assess the effects of Tuesday’s stimulus measures.
Separately, at about 11 a.m. Shanghai time, the Shanghai Stock Exchange reported that it was having “abnormal [and] slow transaction” in stock auctions since the market opened at 9:30 a.m. The incident is reportedly under investigation.
In other markets,
In Korea, the Kospi declined 21.79 points, or 0.8%, to 2,649.78
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index settled 8.87 points, or 0.3%, to 3,573.36.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index docked 36.02 points, or 0.2%, to 22,822.79.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 stumbled 34.18 points, or 0.3%, to 12,457.41.
In Australia, the ASX 200 edged up 8.58 points, or 0.1%, to 8,212.24.
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