Stock market today: Asian shares shrug off Wall St blues as China leaves lending rate unchanged

Markets in Asia apart from Shanghai’s were broadly higher Monday, shrugging off the blues on Wall Street after big technology stocks logged their worst week since the COVID crash in 2020.

Oil prices fell while U.S. futures advanced.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the region, gaining 1.6% to 16489.08. But the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.5% to 3,050.89 after the People’s Bank of China kept its 1-year and 5-year loan prime rates unchanged.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to 37,219.47 and the yen weakened further. The U.S. dollar rose to 154.69 yen from 154.59 yen, trading at levels not seen since 1990.

The Kospi in South Korea jumped 0.8% to 2,613.61.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 1% to 7,640.30.

On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 0.9% to close out its third straight losing week. It ended at 4,967.23, which is 5.5% below its record set late last month.