(RTTNews) – Asia ended on a mixed note on Tuesday as markets in China and Hong Kong plunged due to difficulties in China’s asset sector.
The dollar stagnated in narrow diversity ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve and Bank of England policy meetings.
Federal Reserve budget futures are currently trading with a 97. 4 percent probability that interest rates will not be replaced when the Federal Reserve makes its rate decision on Wednesday. The Bank of England is also expected to hold interest rates on Thursday.
Gold struggled to make its way into Asian trade, while oil rose as markets awaited a US reaction to the fatal attack on US troops in Jordan.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1. 83% to 2,830. 53 as China Evergrande’s court-ordered liquidation of assets put further pressure on policymakers to cut rates in the world’s second-largest economy.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2. 32 to 15,703. 45, dragged down by asset developers.
Shares of Evergrande, the world’s most indebted real estate company with more than $300 billion in liabilities, remained suspended from trading.
Shares of China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group rose 4. 4% on the resume.
The Nikkei average rose 0. 11% to 36,065. 86, while the broader Topix index fell 0. 10% to 2,526. 93.
Chip-related stocks gained ground, with Advantest, Renesas Electronics and Shin-Etsu Chemical gaining between 2 and 3 percent.
Automakers Honda Motor, Toyota and Isuzu dropped 1-3 percent as the yen gained positive traction against its American counterpart for the second straight session.
Tsuruha Holdings lost nearly nine percent after Aeon announced it was negotiating the purchase of activist Oasis’ thirteen-percent stake in the company.
South Korea’s Kospi average ended lower at 2,498. 81, giving up all early gains ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
Korea Electric Power lost 1. 6% and SK Innovation fell 2. 9%, while steelmaker Posco Holding added 1. 3%.
Australian stocks made modest gains despite a bigger-than-expected drop in retail sales in December.
The S Benchmark
U. S. stocks rose notably overnight, while yields fell as the Treasury Department cut its first-quarter borrowing estimates.
The Dow Jones rose 0. 6 and the S