SINGAPORE – Asia-Pacific stocks traded mixed on Monday as investors watched movements in the Turkish lira following a sudden shake-up at the country’s central bank.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.91% in morning trading, while the Topix index fell 1.25%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.23%.
Elsewhere, Chinese markets rallied, with the Shanghai composition up more than 1%, while the Shenzhen component gained 1.259%.
Meanwhile, shares in Australia were higher, with the S & P / ASX 200 up 0.47%.
MSCI’s widest index of Asia-Pacific stocks was up 0.37%.
Lira weakens greatly
Investors looked to the Turkish lira on Monday, with the currency weakening sharply to 8.0897 against the greenback, from levels below 7.5 per dollar seen last week. Previously, the lira had weakened to a whopping 8,145 against the dollar.
The sharp move came after the country’s central bank witnessed another upheaval, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan abruptly replacing his chief, just days after a hefty rate hike.
China’s one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) and five-year LPR were unchanged Monday at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively. That was in line with the expectations of most traders and analysts in a quick Reuters poll.
In terms of business developments, shares of Japanese chip maker Renesas Electronics fell about 4% in Monday morning trading. The company announced last weekend that it will take at least a month to restart production at a factory damaged by fire on Friday. That development came because the world is already dealing with a worldwide shortage of chips.
Currencies
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 92.111 after its recent rebound from levels below 91.5.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.91 per dollar, stronger than levels above 109.2 versus last week’s dollar. The Australian dollar changed hands at $ 0.7714, down from last week above $ 0.78.