Asian Markets Mostly Rise As Wall Street Extends Winning Streak

Asian stocks mostly rose on Tuesday after Wall Street moved closer to record highs following a roller coaster of a summer, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.5% to 17,490.43, and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.0% to 2,864.91.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 stock index closed 1.8% higher at 38,062.92, recovering from a 1.8% drop the previous day. The yen briefly approached 145 against the US dollar on Monday but then pulled back, trading at 146.94 on Tuesday.

China held its benchmark lending rates unchanged on Tuesday, with the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) at 3.35% and the five-year LPR at 3.85%.

This followed a series of key interest rate cuts made last month aimed at supporting the economy. The one-year LPR serves as the benchmark for most corporate loans, while the five-year LPR is a reference rate for mortgages.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.5% to 17,490.43, and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.0% to 2,864.91.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.2% to 7,997.70 as the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s August meeting showed the board decided to leave the cash rate target steady at 4.35%, emphasizing that containing inflation remains their top priority.

The RBA noted in the minutes that it was "unlikely that the cash rate target would be reduced in the short term and that it was not possible to either rule in or rule out future changes in the cash rate target."