Market Update
Stocks in Asia ended mixed with Chinese markets gaining even as the central bank hiked interest rates, while several other key markets edged lower.
At close, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.4% and 0.8% lower while China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.2%. India's Sensex dropped 1.5%. Australia's ASX ended 0.2% higher.
On Sunday, the People Bank of China raised reserve requirements for banks for the fourth time in the year, but stocks shrugged off the tightening measure to log gains.
While a late bout of selling pulled Indian equities lower, with technology stocks weighing on the index.
Stocks on the Move
In Shanghai, property and oil stocks boosted the index. Poly Real Estate and Gemdale Corp rose 1.3% and 1.9%, respectively, while Sinopec climbed 1.8%.
Financials, though, ended broadly lower after the reserve-ratio hike: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Merchants Bank lost 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
In Hong Kong, however, developers were hit hard with Henderson Land erasing 2.3% but aviation stocks offset some of the selling pressure. China Eastern Airlines climbed 1.8%.
Indian stocks ended near the lowest point of the day a day after bellwether Infosys declared results that were short of street estimates. Infosys was 2.8% while peer Tata Consultancy Services fell 3.4%.
In Sydney, miners ended marginally lower but financials witnessed buying: National Australia Bank, ANZ Bank and Westpac Banking Group added 0.4% to 0.6%.