Asia markets mixed as China loan prime rates unchanged, Japan reaches new 33-year highs

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday as China kept its loan prime rates unchanged, as expected.

The Nikkei 225 hit a near 34-year high, trading at 36,438, last up about 1.23%. The Topix rose 0.95%.

On the other hand, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2%, led by real estate stocks after the People’s Bank of China left the one- and five-year loan prime rates left unchanged at 3.45% and 4.2%. China’s CSI 300 index slid 0.3% lower.

The Bank of Japan also kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting, and will announce its monetary policy decision on Tuesday.

Later in the week, Japan will release its trade balances for December on Tuesday and January inflation numbers for Tokyo on Friday.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the week up 0.67%, extending gains from Friday.

South Korea’s Kospi was marginally up, while the small-cap Kosdaq dipped 0.24%.

South Korea will also release its gross domestic product figures for the fourth quarter of 2023 on Wednesday.

On Friday in the U.S., the S&P500 index rose 1.23% to settle at 4,839.81, crossing both the record intraday and closing highs from January 2022.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which set its own all-time high at the end of last year, added 1.05%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.70%.

— CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.