Investing.com – Asian equities were mixed in morning trade on Tuesday ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s highly-anticipated testimony later in the day.
Japan’s Nikkei added 1.4% by 9:37pm ET and hit a three-week high. The gains followed Wall Street, where the Dow finished 1.6% higher, the S&P 500 added 1.2% and the Nasdaq gained 1.3%.
Mainland Chinese markets underperformed their regional peers, as Shanghai Composite traded 0.8% lower while Shenzhen Component also slipped 0.3%. The decision by China’s Communist Party to remove presidential term limits remained in focus. The official and Caixin purchasing manager’s indexes due Wednesday and Thursday are expected to gather some attention.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 0.3%. AIA Group Ltd (HK:1299) made headlines as the insurance group’s 2017 net profit jumped 48% to $6.12 billion, beating analysts’ estimates. Meanwhile, Electricity supplier CLP Holdings (HK:0002) reported a better-than-expected 8% growth in net profit and announced a dividend of HK1.14 per share.
Apple supplier stocks outperformed today as the technology conglomerate was reportedly planning to release three new smartphones later this year. Hong Kong-listed AAC Technologies Holdings Inc (HK:2018) surged 4.1%, while Japan-listed Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (T:6770) and Alpine Electronics Inc (T:6816) gained 2.1% and 2.4% respectively.
In Korea, Bank of Korea was the focus as it kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged at 1.5% in Governor Lee Ju-yeol’s last policy meeting. The central bank raised its 2018 growth forecast to 3% last month and trimmed inflation forecast to 1.7%.
Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 also climbed 0.6% with financials leading the gains.