Market Update
Stocks in Asia ended mostly lower Tuesday, with Indian equities falling the most after its central bank hiked key rates, while resource plays fell on falling commodity prices.
At close, mainland China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.7% after the country did not tighten monetary policy, as was expected by some quarters, over the long weekend, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Australia's ASX lost 0.4% and 0.8%. India's Sensex fell 2.5% after the Reserve Bank of India hiked key rates by a larger-than-expected 50 basis points. Japan markets remained closed due to a national holiday.
Commodity prices were broadly lower, weighing on resource plays, with both crude and gold prices weakening.
Stocks on the Move
In China, stocks played catch-up after remaining closed Monday, with bank stocks gaining ground: Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China CITIC Bank Corp climbing 0.4% to 0.9%.
But losses in some blue-chip technology and property stocks weighed on the Hong Kong index: Lenovo erased 1.6% while Henderson Land Development was down 0.6%.
Indian stocks fell after the central bank tightened monetary policy in the wake of domestic inflationary pressures, with interest rate-sensitive sectors such as property and financials being the worst-hit: State Bank of India fell 4% while realtor Unitech was off 5%.
In Australia, selling in mining stocks bogged down the index: heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto lost 1.4% and 0.7%, respectively.