Local newspapers with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) victory in the presidential election on the front pages remain on the counter at the reception of an office building in Taipei on January 14, 2024. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP) (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
Yasuyoshi Chiba | Afp | Getty Images
China stocks pared earlier declines on Monday, after the country’s central bank left its medium-term policy loans rate unchanged, while Taiwan’s main stock index rose after voters handed the ruling Democratic Progressive Party a third-straight presidential term.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 index was 0.14% lower after falling about 0.5% at open, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up slightly by 0.32%.
The People’s Bank of China surprised markets and held the rate on some 995 billion yuan ($138.84 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans, keeping it unchanged at 2.50%
The Taiwan Weighted index rose 0.2% after the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s Lai Ching-te won the presidential election on Saturday, with more than 40% of the popular vote.
Investors will be closely watching China’s fourth-quarter gross domestic numbers due on Wednesday, while Japan will release inflation figures for December on Friday.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 inched was flat.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 continued its record-breaking run, with the index up 0.77%, while the Topix also touched new highs, gaining 0.87%.
South Korea’s Kospi was trading flat, but the small-cap Kosdaq fell 0.98%.
U.S. stock and bond markets will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.
On Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes ended mixed as the fourth-quarter earnings season got under way, with four Big Banks posting downbeat results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.31%, but the S&P 500 ended the day 0.08% higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed just above the flatline, gaining 0.02%.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh and Alex Harring contributed to this report
