HONG KONG, Sept 5 — Equities were mixed today, as traders await more measures by China to stimulate its economy and support the creaking property market, while fresh services data reinforced the need for action.
Sentiment was also helped by a positive US jobs report on Friday, which was seen as giving the Federal Reserve room to stand pat on monetary policy after more than a year of interest rate hikes. “Although individual regulatory changes may not cause significant market shifts, the combined impact of several rapid adjustments sends strong signals,” said Redmond Wong at Saxo.
The reports come after the firm won approval from creditors last week to extend a deadline for a key repayment, narrowly avoiding a potential default. “The recovery in China’s services sector, or even consumption, is ongoing but not as strong as people had expected,” Larry Hu, of Macquarie Group, said.
There were losses in Sydney even as the Australian central bank held interest rates for a third successive meeting, while Seoul, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta were also off.But Tokyo, Taipei, Manila, Mumbai and Bangkok eked out gains.