Asia Stocks Mixed After RBA Keeps Rates Unchanged
Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday as the Australian central bank kept rates on hold and a key gauge of the services sector pointed to a pickup in China and a contraction in Japan.
Purchasing managers' data for Asia showed a large leap in the Chinese services sector PMI, as compiled by Caixin and Markit, though this wasn't enough to prevent a fall in the overall composite index to 50.3 from 50.5. The composite reading signals the slowest growth rate for four months marked the third monthly decline in a row.
In Japan the services sector PMI fell into contraction territory, coming in at 49.4, down from 50.4, as new orders fell. The composite index fell to 49.0 from 49.2 in data which appears to build the case for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to bring forward an expected package of stimulus measures and for the Bank of Japan to cut rates again as early as this month.
The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.01% to 5,228.00 after the Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate unchanged at 1.75%, as expected.
The Australian dollar was recently down 1.02% against the dollar at 75.05 cents. Inconclusive Saturday elections, in which incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal Party failed to win a majority, are fueling uncertainty.
The Nikkei 225 was down 0.67% at 15,669.33 and the Topix was down 0.42% at 1,256.64 .
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing was down 4.2% after it reported slowing sales growth in Japan.
The Hang Seng was down 0.98% at 20,853.84.
The CSI 300 was up 0.14% at 3,209.18.