Asian stock markets close mixed

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – Major Asian stock markets closed Wednesday mixed amid an unexpected rate cut by the Chinese central bank and Japan's second quarter growth figure.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, was up by 21.7 points, or 0.65% to 3,357.08 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock exchange performed the best, surging 324.8 points, or 1.14%, to 28,871 following strong economic data from the country.

Official data showed that industrial production in Japan rose at the fastest monthly pace on record in June, up 9.2% from May.

The Japanese economy expanded an annualized 2.2% in the second quarter after a 0.1% year-on-year growth in the previous quarter.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, fell 134.8 points, or 0.67%, to 20,040.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange was flat at 3,276 points.

The People’s Bank of China lowered medium-term lending rate and seven-day reverse repo rate both by 10 basis points to 2.75% and 2%, respectively amid weak industrial production and retail sales growth.

The Indian Sensex benchmark rose 130 points, or 0.22%, to end the day at 59,462 points, while the Singapore index fell 11.4 points, or 0.35%, to close at 3,257.