Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region closed mixed on Tuesday, after the People’s Bank of China announced its new benchmark lending rate. The new 1-year LPR was set at 4.25%, down 6 bps from 4.31% previously and the 5-year LPR was set at 4.85%. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting minutes, showed the central bank would consider further easing “if the accumulation of additional evidence suggested this was needed to support sustainable growth in the economy and the achievement of the inflation target over time”. The Shanghai Composite fell 3 points, or 0.1% to 2,880; and the Hang Seng declined 31 points, or 0.1% to 26,261 while the Nikkei 225 gained 114 points, or 0.6% to 20,677; the Kospi increased 20 points, or 1.1%, to 1,960; and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 went up 78 points, or 1.2%, to 6,545.
