Asia stocks mixed as China cuts loan prime rates

Asia Pacific stocks were mixed on Monday as China cut its benchmark lending rate.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 led losses among the region’s major markets as it dropped 2.45 percent to close at 5,353.00.

Mainland Chinese stocks were higher on the day. The Shanghai composite gained 0.5 percent to around 2,852.55 while the Shenzhen composite edged 1.005 percent higher to about 1,767.86.

That came as China cut its one-year loan prime rate to 3.85 percent from 4.05 percent. The five-year loan prime rate was also reduced to 4.65 percent from 4.75 percent. The moves marked the second cut to the loan prime rates for 2020.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dipped 0.24 percent, as of its final hour of trading.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 1.15 percent to close at 19,669.12 while the Topix index shed 0.7 percent to finish its trading day at 1,432.41. Over in South Korea, the Kospi dipped 0.84 percent to close at 1,898.36.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index declined 0.66 percent.