{"id":20818,"date":"2022-04-20T08:36:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T08:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2022\/04\/20\/asian-shares-mixed-as-china-keeps-key-rate-steady\/"},"modified":"2022-04-20T08:36:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T08:36:55","slug":"asian-shares-mixed-as-china-keeps-key-rate-steady","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2022\/04\/20\/asian-shares-mixed-as-china-keeps-key-rate-steady\/","title":{"rendered":"Asian Shares Mixed As China Keeps Key Rate Steady"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, as bond yields continued to rise and China held key interest rates for corporate and household loans steady despite COVID and Ukraine woes. <\/p>\n

Hawkish comments from more Fed officials and Netflix Inc.’s slump in after-hours trading on Wall Street due to lower-than-expected subscriber numbers also kept investors on edge.<\/p>\n

Shares of the U.S.-based streaming service plunged 26 percent in after-hours trading after its quarterly subscriber loss.<\/p>\n

China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 1.35 percent to 3,151.05, with growth and Shanghai lockdown concerns weighing on sentiment. Shanghai allowed 4 million more people out of their homes today as anti-virus controls that shut down China’s biggest city eased.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.4 percent to 20,944.67 amid disappointment over China not cutting lending rates. <\/p>\n

Japan’s Nikkei index climbed 0.86 percent to 27,217.85 after data showed that exports grew 14.7 percent year on year and imports grew an annual 31.2 percent in March. <\/p>\n

The deficit of 412 billion yen ($3.2 billion) for March was lower than the previous month’s 670 billion yen but was quadruple analysts’ estimates.<\/p>\n

Uniqlo clothing shop owner Fast Retailing topped the gainers list to surge 2.5 percent, followed by technology<\/span> investor SoftBank Group, which rose 1.4 percent. <\/p>\n

Automakers Honda, Toyota and Nissan soared 4-5 percent on a weaker yen while chip-related stocks such as Advantest, Tokyo Electron and Screen Holdings fell 1-2 percent. <\/p>\n

Australian markets<\/span> ended on a flat note, as gains in healthcare sector offset losses across the mining and energy sectors. <\/p>\n

Private hospital operator Ramsay Health soared over 24 percent after it received a $20b bid from a consortium led by private equity giant KKR.<\/p>\n

Seoul stocks recovered from an early slide to end on a flat note as investors remained wary of uncertainties over the U.S. monetary policy and stagflation.<\/p>\n

New Zealand’s benchmark NZX-50 index rallied 1.10 percent to 11,966.19, with Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Auckland Airport and Mainfreight all rising around 3 percent.<\/p>\n

U.S. stocks snapped two straight days of losses to end sharply higher overnight on the back of strong housing data and a steep drop in oil prices.<\/p>\n

The major U.S. averages rose between 1.5 percent and 2.2 percent as earnings optimism helped offset concerns over rising bond yields. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Business News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n