Hong Kong rally, Australia CPI; PBOC cuts MLF

Asia-Pacific markets were largely range bound on Wednesday, while futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index suggested a 4% rise for the index when trading starts.

HSI futures were at 19,763, compared to the index’s last close of 19,000.

Chinese markets rallied yesterday after the country’s central bank announced a slate of economic support measures, with the HSI seeing its best day in seven months, while mainland China’s CSI 300 recorded its largest one-day gain in over four years.

On Wednesday, the PBOC slashed the medium-term lending facility rate to 2%, down from 2.3%. This is the second cut to the MLF in about three months, after the central bank cut rates from 2.5% to 2.3% in late July.

The offshore yuan also briefly strengthened to 6.995 against the U.S. dollar, breaking the 7.00 level for the first time since May 2023.

Investors will be watching Australia’s inflation numbers on Wednesday, with the consumer price index expected to post a 2.7% rise year on year, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed marginally, rebounding from two straight days of losses.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was marginally down, but the broad-based Topix was up 0.3%.

South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.4%, while the small-cap Kosdaq rose 0.43%. South Korea on Wednesday announced its “Korea Value Up Index,” with trading set to start Sept. 30.

The index will comprise 100 companies, with IT and industrial stocks making up more than 40% of the index.

Overnight in the U.S. The S&P 500 rose to a fresh record on Tuesday, gaining 0.25% to 5,732.93, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2%, also closing at a new record of 42,208.22.

The Nasdaq Composite added 0.56%, powered by shares of chipmaker Nvidia.

Shares of artificial intelligence darling Nvidia climbed nearly 4% after a regulatory filing showed that CEO Jensen Huang wrapped up his sales of the chipmaker’s stock for the time being.

—CNBC’s Brian Evans and Hakyung Kim contributed to this report.