Today most of Asian indicators demonstrate growth. The Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng indices were up by 0.29% and 2.34% on the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges. Meanwhile, another Chinese indicator - the Shenzhen Composite - declined by 0.35%. The Japanese index Nikkei 225 increased by 1.15%, Korean KOSPI climbed by 0.53%, Australian S&P/ASX 200 went up less than others by 0.14%.
China's central bank decided to reduce the interest rate to 3.7% from 3.8%. In December 2021, the reduction of the rates occurred for the first time in almost 2 years. This was done in order to reduce the costs of companies and support the economy of the country.
Chinese companies Country Garden Services Holdings Co. gained 15.76%, Meituan climbed by 8.49% and Haidilao International Holding, Ltd. increased by 7,67%. Xiaomi Corp. and Geely Automobile Holdings, Ltd. also gained 2.3% and 1.5%, respectively.
Investor sentiment was also positively affected by the release of economic data from Japan. The data showed that Japan's exports increased by 17.5% in December 2021. At the same time, analysts had expected an increase in exports by 16%. Economists attribute export growth to increased demand for steel, automobiles and semiconductors, as well as settlement of supplies. Imports increased by 41.1%, but according to expectations, their growth is estimated at 42.8%.
Among Japanese companies, Konami Holdings Corp. increased by 6.02%, Nexon Co. raised by 5.96% and Itochu Corp. gained 5,17%. Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. and Nintendo Co., Ltd. rose by 2.3% and 2.9%, respectively.
At the same time, traders remain concerned about the spread of coronavirus in the world and the tightening of restrictive measures, which many states are forced to take. The closest attention is focused on China's attempts to reduce the number of COVID-19 infections to a minimum on the eve of the Chinese New Year and the Winter Olympics.
Following the growth of the Korean stock exchange, Kia Corp. increased by 0.1% and Hyundai Motor Co. gained 0.3%, as well as LG Corp. climbed by 1.3%, while Samsung Electronics Co. fell by 0.1%.
Australia's unemployment rate fell. According to the latest data released last month, unemployment fell to 4.2% from 4.6%. This was due to the removal of restrictive measures aimed at preventing of the spread of COVID-19. Notably, this figure is the lowest for the last 14 years. According to forecasts, it should have decreased only by 0.1%, to 4.5%.
Amid this positive news, BHP Group securities increased by 3.1% and Rio Tinto - by 3.2%.
