GLOBAL MARKETS - Asia-Pacific markets rise as investors assess China stimulus measures

The energy and basic materials sectors led the index's gains, while the Hang Seng Mainland Properties index advanced 3.6 percent.

Chinese markets rallied yesterday after the country’s central bank announced a slate of economic support measures, with the HSI seeing its best day in seven months, while mainland China’s CSI 300 recorded its largest one-day gain in over four years.

On Wednesday, the PBOC slashed the medium-term lending facility rate to 2 percent, down from 2.3 percent. This is the second cut to the medium-term lending in about three months, after the central bank cut rates from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent in late July.

The offshore yuan also briefly strengthened to 6.995 against the U.S. dollar, breaking the 7.00 level for the first time since May 2023.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 1.73 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed marginally, rebounding from two straight days of losses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.32 percent, and the broad-based Topix reversed earlier losses and was up 0.11 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.4 percent, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.43 percent. South Korea on Wednesday announced its “Korea Value Up Index,” with trading set to start Monday. The index will comprise 100 companies, with IT and industrial stocks making up more than 40 percent.

In the U.S. The S&P 500 rose to a fresh record on Tuesday, gaining 0.25 percent to 5,732.93, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 percent, also closing at a new record of 42,208.22. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.56 percent, powered by shares of chipmaker Nvidia.

Shares of artificial intelligence darling Nvidia climbed nearly 4 percent after a regulatory filing showed that CEO Jensen Huang wrapped up his sales of the chipmaker’s stock for the time being.