Investing.com – Asian equities were mixed in morning trade on Wednesday. China unveiled a package of policies on Tuesday to boost domestic demand as recent trade developments continued to threaten the country’s economy growth.
In a government statement, China said it would ease restriction on banks’ issuance of financial bonds for small local firms, and would give tax cut on R&D expenditures, among other measures. The statement also noted that fiscal policy should be more proactive, although policy makers would refrain from using stimulus to flood the economy.
Nomura Holdings said the statement suggested “the start of fiscal stimulus”, while Guotai Junan and Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) believed it is “a confirmation of policy stance changing toward loosening.”
On the other hand, Larry Hu, head of China economics at Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong said he doesn’t see the statement as a significant easing or a policy U-turn. “It’s more of a fine-tuning,” he said. “Policy makers are sewing patches, offsetting the deleveraging drive that was too rapid and fierce.”
The Shanghai Composite was down 0.3% by 9:45PM ET (01:45 GMT), while the Shenzhen Component and the Hang Seng Index climbed 0.3% and 0.5% respectively.
Fosun International Ltd (HK:0656) made headlines after reports suggested the company is considering to purchase Beigian insurer Ageas. Fosun is talking to advisers about other options including teaming up with a partner to split the Belgian company or increasing its current stake, according to people familiar with the matter. Ageas has a market value of 8.9 billion euros ($10.4 billion).
Overnight, The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%, the S&P 500 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite ended the session lower by 0.01% 7 after climbing more than 1% to a record high earlier in the day.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI edged down 0.1%. LG Display (KS:034220) reported on Wednesday that operating loss in Q2 amounted to 228 billion won ($202.1 million), compared with an average forecast of a 247 billion won loss.
Japan’s Nikkei traded 0.5% higher in morning trade. The yen was little changed following the BOJ’s regular operation that did not suggest it may be about to signal a change in policy.
Down under, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% as declines in health care and financials were mostly offset by gains in the materials sector.