Stocks in Asia Were Mixed on Tuesday

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on April 20, as China decided not to change its benchmark lending rate.

In Japan, Nikkei 225 and Topix index suffered losses on the day. Stocks in Japan led losses among the region’s major markets on April 20. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.97% to end its trading day at 29,10038. The Topix index dropped 1.55% to close at 1,926.25.

Mainland Chinese stocks also failed to strengthen their positions on April 20. The Shanghai composite declined 0.13% to 3,472.94 and the Shenzhen component fell 0.11% to finish its trading day at 14,101.90.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was hovering around the flatline as of its final hour of trading on Tuesday.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.68% 3,220.70.

South Korea’s Kospi finished its trading day at 0.68% higher at 3,220.70.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific outside Japan added 0.23%.

On Tuesday, China made an important decision by keeping the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged at 3.85% and five-year LPR at 4.65%. That decision was in line with predictions from a majority of traders as well as analysts.

In the U.S., stocks fell from record highs as the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 123.04 points to close at 34,077.65. On Monday, the S&P 500 also fell to close its trading day at 4,163.26. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.98% to about 13,914.77.

Stocks and coronavirus pandemic in India

India has one of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in the world, and the situation continues to deteriorate in the country. The country reported more than 259,000 cases over a 24-hour period on Tuesday according to government data. It is the sixth consecutive day that the country’s daily case count surpassed 200,000.

Cases started to rise in February, and so far in April, the country reported more than 3.1 million news cases. Unfortunately, the total cumulative cases surpassed 15 million. At the moment, the country has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the world after the U.S.

India administered more than 127 million vaccine doses, but the situation in the country remains very difficult, as hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients. Despite the overall situation in the country, the Nifty 50 in India added 0.1% at about 12:51 p.m. local time.