Asia-Pacific markets mixed as RBNZ cuts cash rate; Nikkei rises as Kishida to step down in September

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Wednesday as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut benchmark lending rates and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would step down in September.

Kishida said he would not run for reelection as the Liberal Democratic Party leader, pledging his support to the new LDP leader, according to a Reuters translation of his statement in Japanese.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand unexpectedly cut its benchmark cash rate to 5.25%. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the central bank would maintain rates at 5.5%.

In South Korea, the country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.5% from 2.8% in July, hitting its lowest point since October 2023.

In Japan, business sentiment at manufacturers turned slightly less confident in August compared with the month before, according to the Reuters Tankan survey.

The Tankan survey — which tracks the Bank of Japan's quarterly survey of the same name — showed that the sentiment index for manufacturers slipped to +10 in August, while the non manufacturers index fell to +24. Both metrics stood at +11 and +26 in July's survey.

This was due to lackluster demand from China, which weighed on corporate sentiment, Reuters reported, noting that this survey also comes after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rates in July to their highest level since 2008.

Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.27% after the announcement by Kishida, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.87%.

South Korea's Kospi was 0.71% higher, while the small-cap Kosdaq jumped 1.62%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 saw a smaller rise of 0.65%.

The country's stock regulator is suing the ASX for "making misleading statements" related to its Clearing House Electronic Subregister System, or