Asia-Pacific markets surged on Tuesday, led by Chinese stocks, as the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced a series of policy-easing measures in a rare briefing by central bank governor Pan Gongsheng, aimed at boosting the economy and restoring investor confidence amid slowing growth.
The PBOC revealed plans to cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks by 50 basis points, though a specific timeline was not provided. Additionally, the central bank will lower the seven-day reverse repurchase rate from 1.7% to 1.5%.
Other potential moves include reducing the loan prime rate (LPR) by 20 basis points to 0.25%, though it is unclear if the cut will apply to the one-year or five-year LPR, which currently stand at 3.35% and 3.85%, respectively.
Further easing measures include lowering down payments for second homes and injecting 1 trillion yuan (approximately $141.78 billion) of long-term funds into the financial system.
The news sent Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up 2.35% at the open, while mainland China's CSI 300 gained 1%, with real estate and basic materials stocks leading the advance.
In addition, the yield on China’s 10-year government bonds fell 3.2 basis points to record lows of 2.041%.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded near flat ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) rate decision, amid expectations that policymakers will hold interest rates at 4.35%.
Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.37%, crossing the 38,000-mark for the first time since early September, while the Topix gained 1%.
South Korea's Kospi remained flat, though the small-cap Kosdaq rose by 0.85%.
In the U.S., markets ended Monday’s session with modest gains. The Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.14%, while the S&P 500 added 0.28%, closing at 5,718.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 61.29 points, or 0.15%, ending at 42,124.65, reaching new highs along with the broader market index.