MTS Help Center

Shares in Asia-Pacific were largely higher in Wednesday trade as China kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 1.31% by the afternoon, leading gains among major markets in the region.

Mainland Chinese stocks edged higher, with the Shanghai composite hovering above the flatline while the Shenzhen component rose 0.283%.

China on Wednesday kept the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged at 3.85% while the five-year LPR was also held steady at 4.65%. That was in line with expectations from a majority of traders and analysts in a snap Reuters poll who had predicted no change in both the one-year loan prime rate as well as the five-year LPR.

 

·         Alibaba shares surge 7% after Jack Ma appears in Europe and company releases new chip

Alibaba also released some news related to its cloud business this week. On Tuesday, the company launched a new chip designed for servers in a bid to boost its cloud computing capabilities.

Cloud is seen as a key part of Alibaba’s future growth. It currently accounts for 8% of the company’s total revenue.

The e-commerce giant also said on Wednesday that it plans to open new data centers in South Korea and Thailand next year to continue overseas expansion of its cloud business.

 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.2% below the flatline in early trade, with retail stocks dropping 1.3% while food and beverages gained 0.9%.

The mixed start for European markets comes after a series of upbeat trading sessions in recent days as investors digested the latest earnings from the U.S.