Asian shares fall as many markets close for public holidays

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Asian shares on Friday fell as many markets were closed for Good Friday and other holidays.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) did not change the 1-year lending rate surprisingly, yet cut banks' required reserve ratios by 25 basis points.

A statement by the central bank said 530 billion yuan liquidity ($83 billion) will be given to the market with the required reserve change.

China's announcement that it will soon reduce the required reserve ratios eroded the selling pressure in stock markets.

Meanwhile, the dollar/yen parity continued to rise with increasing inflation concerns in the US, and after reaching the highest level of the last 20 years, 126.56, it was stabilized at 126.4 with an increase of 0.4% compared to the previous close.

With these developments, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange lost 78.81 points, or 0.29%, to close the day at 27,093.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, rose 143.7 points, or 0.67%, to 21,518.

China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange lost 14.40 points, or 0.45%, to finish the day at 3,211.

India’s Sensex benchmark, slipped by 237.4 points, or 0.41%, to 58,338, while the Singapore index went down 6.37% at 3,335 points.