Major bourses in the Asia Pacific region lacked direction on Friday, amid a continued money injection by the PBoC into China’s banking system and growing fears about the potential default of the cash-strapped developer Evergrande as the interest deadline expired without any announcement from the company. The ASX led the losses (-0.4%), as new COVID-19 infections in Victoria state hovered near-record level today with 733 cases. Stocks in China also fell (-0.4%), as some of the Evergrande bondholders have not received interest payments. The Hang Seng was almost flat, as gains in energy and tech stocks were countered by falls in healthcare and utilities. Shares in South Korea were muted, amid a warning by the Bank of Korea that the debt repayment among vulnerable households could increase sharply as interest rates rise. The Nikkei 225 jumped more than 2%, however, with all major sectors moving higher, as core consumer prices in Japan halted a 12-month run of falls in August.