"Asian Stocks" Mixed Performance in Asia-Pacific Stock Markets, Taiwanese and Korean Stocks Weaken, Japanese and Shanghai-Hong Kong Stocks Rise

The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Mary Daly, stated the night before (24th) that monetary policy may need further adjustments. The Asia-Pacific stock markets developed mixed this morning (25th), with Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Japanese stocks rising, while Taiwanese, South Korean, and Indian stock markets were soft.

The People's Bank of China conducted a one-year MLF operation of 600 billion yuan through fixed quantity, interest rate bidding, and multiple price bidding methods; on the same day, 300 billion yuan MLF matured. The People's Bank of China’s seven-day reverse repurchase operation net withdrew 3.5 billion yuan in a single day. The Shanghai Composite Index reported 3,859 points at midday, up 5 points or 0.2%; the Shenzhen Component Index reported 13,508 points, up 152 points or 1.1%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index rose 115 points or 0.4% at midday, reporting 26,633 points, with a turnover of 175.8 billion yuan. The Taiwan Weighted Index fell 67 points or 0.3%, reporting 26,129 points. TSMC fell 1.1%, MediaTek and Hon Hai rose 2.3% and 2.9%, respectively, while Largan Precision rose 0.9%.

The minutes from the Bank of Japan's July monetary policy meeting showed that some members called for a return to interest rate hikes in the future. The Japanese Nikkei Average rose 95 points or 0.2% in the afternoon, reporting 45,726 points. Tokyo Electron and Discus rose 2.1% and 3.2%, respectively, while SoftBank rose 2%. The South Korean Kospi Index fell 3 points or 0.1%, reporting 3,468 points. LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Heavy Industries rose 3.6% and 2.8%, respectively, while Samsung Electronics rose 0.5%, and SK Hynix fell 0.7%. Naver rose 7.7%, as the company was reported to be acquiring a local cryptocurrency exchange.

The Indian Nifty 50 Index fell 14 points or less than 0.1%, reporting 25,042 points. Military stock Bharat Electronics rose 1.9%, while Tata Motors fell 3%.

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 10 points or 0.1% at the close, reporting 8,775 points. Mining stocks BHP and Rio Tinto rose 3.3% and 3%, respectively, while gold mining stock Newmont fell less than 0.1%. The New Zealand Stock Exchange 50 Index fell 31 points or 0.2% at the close, reporting 13,149 points.

The FTSE Straits Times Index fell 8 points or 0.2%, reporting 4,281 points. DBS Bank and UOB fell 0.1%, while OCBC Bank fell 0.6%. The Malaysian stock market remained stable, while the Indonesian and Philippine stock markets fell 0.5% and 1%, respectively. The Thai stock market rose 0.7%, the Hanoi stock market in Vietnam rose 0.8%, and the Ho Chi Minh stock market remained stable