Asian shares mixed after China cuts key rate, Japan GDP up

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday after China's central bank cut a key interest rate and Japan reported its economy expanded at a faster pace in the last quarter.

Tokyo and Sydney advanced while Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok fell. U.S. futures edged higher Monday while oil prices declined.

The People’s Bank of China cut its rate on a one-year loan to 2.75% from 2.85% and injected an extra 400 billion yuan ($60 billion) in lending markets after government data showed July factory output and retail sales weakened.

Beijing is aiming to shore up sagging economic growth at a politically sensitive time when President Xi Jinping is believed to be trying to extend his hold on power.

The ruling Communist Party effectively acknowledged last month it can’t hit this year’s official 5.5% growth target after anti-virus curbs disrupted trade, manufacturing and consumer spending. A crackdown on corporate debt has caused activity in the vast real estate industry to plunge.

Meanwhile, Japan reported its economy expanded at a 2.2% rate in April-June from a year earlier, as consumer spending rebounded with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index added 1% to 28,830.90 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney climbed 0.4% to 7,061.81. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 3,274.19, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gave up 0.2% to 20,135.75.

South Korean markets were closed for a holiday.

Bangkok's SET index edged 0.1% lower. The Thai government reported the economy expanded at a 0.7% quarterly pace in April-June, slowing from 1.1% growth in the first quarter of the year.

Tourism has rebounded after two years of tight controls to fight COVID-19, but only to about a quarter of the pre-pandemic level.

“The outlook for the rest of the year will...