Asia-Pacific markets surged on Monday as investors interpreted the move by the central bank of China to remain unchanged in its loan prime rates.
In line with a Reuters survey, the People’s Bank of China maintained its 1-year and 5-year prime rates at 3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, but maintained them unchanged at a seventh consecutive meeting.
Most new loans and outstanding loans are determined by the one-year rate, whereas mortgages are determined by the five-year rate.
The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 0.55 percent, and the CSI 300 in mainland China increased 0.55 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 increased by 0.54 percent in early trade.
Therefore, the Nikkei 225 of Japan surged 1.58 percent, and the Topix rose by 0.86 percent. The Bank of Japan shot up its policy rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent, a three-decade high, last Friday. The Kospi of South Korea rose by 1.83 percent, and the small-cap Kosdaq increased by 0.99 percent.
On the U.S. market, last Friday stocks gained a second winning day, with the help of Oracle, since the artificial intelligence trade recovered its balance after being subject to volatility.
Stocks of Oracle had risen by 6.6 percent following TikTok’s sale of its U.S. business to a new joint venture involving the software giant and a private equity investor known as Silver Lake.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.31 percent, ending at 23,307.62. The S&P 500 gained 0.88 percent to close at 6,834.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 183.04 points, or 0.38 percent, and settled at 48,134.89.
