Market Movements in Asia-Pacific

On Thursday, the Asia-Pacific region's major stock indexes showed mixed results. Investors were reacting to the latest unemployment figures from Australia and the People's Bank of China's decision to maintain its benchmark interest rates. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported an unemployment rate of 4.1% in February, indicating a steady job market.

Index Performance

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index experienced a downturn, decreasing by 1.06% by 03:13 am CET. Conversely, South Korea's Kospi saw a modest increase of 0.46% at 3:14 am CET. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite indices both saw slight decreases, dropping by 0.30% and 0.25% respectively by 3:15 am CET. In contrast, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index enjoyed a significant rise, jumping by 1.12% at 3:16 am CET.

Japan's Nikkei 225 remained closed for the holidays, not participating in the day's trading activities.

Currency Movements

In the currency markets, the dollar saw a slight decrease against the yen, trading 0.28% lower at 3:17 am CET, with the exchange rate standing at 148.27200.