Major stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region traded mostly lower on Thursday as investors digested the data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing that Australia's unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in January. Investors also assessed the decision by the People's Bank of China (PBoC) to keep interest rates unchanged in February.
Japan's Nikkei 225 declined by 1.36% at 3:14 am CET, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 1.67% at 03:15 am CET and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.51% a minute later. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Composite traded flat at 3:16 am CET. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell by 1.52% at 3:17 am CET.
The dollar traded 0.61% lower against the yen at 3:18 am CET, selling for 150.55600.
