SINGAPORE – Asia Pacific stocks were mixed on Monday as investors saw the Turkish lira move after a sudden upheaval in the country’s central bank.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.62% in afternoon trading while the Topix index was down 0.71%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.26%.
Elsewhere, mainland China markets rose in the afternoon, with the Shanghai Composite gaining 0.9% while the Shenzhen component gaining 0.71%. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 0.18%.
In Australia, stocks were higher, with the S & P / ASX 200 gaining 0.74%.
The broadest MSCI index for stocks in Asia Pacific rose 0.31%.
Lira is getting much weaker
Investors watched the Turkish lira on Monday as the currency fell more than 12% against the greenback to 8.1162, compared to below 7.5 per dollar last week. Previously, the lira was weakened against the greenback at 8.1745.
The sharp move came after the country’s central bank experienced another upheaval. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan abruptly replaced his boss just days after a sharp rate hike.
China’s one-year lending rate (LPR) and five-year LPR were unchanged on Monday at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively. This was in line with the expectations of the majority of traders and analysts in a quick Reuters poll.
Stocks in motion
In terms of corporate developments, shares in Japanese chip maker Renesas Electronics fell around 4% on Monday afternoon. The company announced over the weekend that it will take at least a month to resume production at a facility that was damaged by fire on Friday. This development came when the world was already facing a global chip shortage.
The automakers in Japan hit by the chip shortage also fell in retail on Monday. Toyota fell 2.61%, Nissan 2.9% and Honda 3.31%.
In the meantime, trading in Capitaland shares in Singapore was suspended on Monday. The company announced a proposed reorganization that would include the consolidation of its investment management platforms and the accommodation business into CapitaLand Investment Management, which is to be listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Currencies and oil
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of its peers, hit 92.004 after its recent rebound from levels below 91.5.
The Japanese yen was trading at 108.74 per dollar, stronger than above 109.2 against the greenback last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7729, below the over $ 0.78 level recorded last week.
Oil prices were lower during Monday’s Asia session and the international benchmark’s Brent crude oil futures fell 0.5% to $ 64.21 a barrel. US crude oil futures were down 0.34% to $ 61.21 a barrel.
