Asia-Pacific markets are mostly lower as China keeps benchmark lending rates steady

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Thursday as China kept its one- and five-year loan prime rates unchanged.

The one-year loan prime rate serves as a benchmark for most corporate and household loans, while the five-year rate serves as a peg for property mortgages. The one-year LPR currently stands at 3.45%, while the five-year LPR is at 3.95%.

Earlier this week, the People’s Bank of China kept the 1-year medium-term lending facility rate steady at 2.5%.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 dipped marginally after the announcement, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index opened 0.23% higher.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.23%, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.11%. Shares of HMM, the country’s largest containership, leaped almost 4%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 and the broad-based Topix slipped of 0.79% and 0.85%, respectively.

The Taiwan Weighted Index high new highs for the third day in a row, up 0.13%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped marginally.

New Zealand’s economy exited a technical recession, growing 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year and beating Reuters poll expectations of a 0.1% expansion. On a year-on-year basis, the economy grew 0.2%.