Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at the central bank’s building in Sydney, Australia on May 2, 2022.
Brendon Thorne | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed rose on Tuesday ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate hike decision, with economists almost evenly spilt on whether the RBA will pause or continue its hiking cycle.
According to a Reuters poll of 37 economists, 16 expect a rate hike from the current interest rate level of 3.6% to 3.85%, while 21 expect the bank to hold rates. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.02%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.26%, and the Topix climbed 0.25%. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.39% up, while the Kosdaq index was 0.68% higher.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index opened 0.59% lower, while the Hang Seng Tech index saw a larger loss at 1.17%.
The Shenzhen Component lost 0.13%, while the Shanghai Composite rose marginally.
Overnight in the U.S., two of the three major indexes closed higher, despite news of a suprise oil output cut from OPEC+ that threatened to stoke inflation and recession fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.98%, while the S&P 500 ticked higher by 0.37%. On the optehr hand, the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.27%.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans and Jesse Pound contributed to this report
