After the Reserve Bank of Australia maintained its cash rate target at 3.60 percent on Tuesday, Asia-Pacific markets experienced mixed gains. As a result, the Australian dollar strengthened against the United States dollar. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 lost earlier profits and ended up 0.16 percent higher.
An Outline
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.27% in Japan, and the Topix climbed 0.15%. The Kospi index went up by 0.47 percent, while the Kosdaq index went up by almost 0.5 percent.
The Shanghai Composite gained 0.24 percent on the mainland, while the Shenzhen Component lost 0.3 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index decreased by 0.6%.
Two major U.S. indexes closed higher overnight, despite news of an unexpected cut in OPEC+’s oil output that threatened to stoke inflation and recession fears.
The S&P 500 peaked at 0.37 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.98%. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.27 percent. The benchmark interest rate set by the Reserve Bank of Australia has remained at 3.6%.
The statement from the central bank stated, “The Board’s decision to keep interest rates steady this month gives it more opportunity to evaluate the economy’s current condition and the perspective in an environment of uncertainty.”
End Note
It marks the first pause in the RBA’s rate-hiking cycle since it began in April 2022. The Australian dollar fell after the move to 0.6782 against the US dollar.
