Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on November 22 as the world’s second-largest economy kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 0.39% to end its trading day at 24,951.34. Hong Kong-listed shares of tech giants jumped on November 22. Shares of JD.com and NetEase added 1.93% and 3.02%, respectively.
Mainland Chinese stocks rose on November 22. The Shanghai composite gained 0.61% to finish its trading day at 3,852.08. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen component added 1.411% to 14,960.66.
On November 22, China kept the one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) unchanged at 3.85%. Besides, the five-year Loan Prime Rate was also left steady at 4.65%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced about 0.1% to 29,774.11 and the Topix index declined fractionally to 2,042.82.
South Korea’s Kospi added 1.42% to end its trading day at 3,013.25 as shares of Samsung Electronics advanced 5.2%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.59% to 7,353.10.
European stocks
Not only Asian but European stocks were also mixed on November 22. Investors monitored Covid-19 and its impact on Europe along with various corporate announcements.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 gained 0.1% by late morning with telecoms climbing 1.4% to lead gains while tech stocks dropped 0.6%.
European investors are monitoring the situation regarding the Covid-19. Last week, Austria introduced strict measures to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Investors also keep an eye on another big-market moving event this week. Another major event will be President Joe Biden’s nomination for the next Federal Reserve chief.
U.S. stocks struggled on November 19 as concerns over a resurgence of Covid-19 affected global markets, though tech shares pushed higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 268.97 points or 0.75% to 35,601.98. On November 19, the S&P 500 fell 0.14% to 4,697.96. On the contrary, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.40% to 16,057.44.
However, the S&P 500 still ended the week 0.3% higher. Earnings reports from big retailers as well as U.S. retail data helped the broad-market index. Unfortunately, the blue-chip Dow dropped 1.3% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2%.
Major energy companies dominated the top decliners in the S&P 500. Devon Energy dropped 6.2% and Hess declined about 5.7%. Diamondback and Baker Hughes weren’t far behind, both of them fell more than 5%.
On November 19, shares of Moderna jumped nearly 5% after the FDA cleared its vaccine booster shot for all adults in the U.S.
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