06:52 AM EDT, 10/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets turned in an uneven Monday, after a rate cut by Beijing's central bank failed to assuage investor concerns regarding the outlook for China's giant economy and property sector.

Hong Kong and Tokyo finished in the red as Shanghai inched higher, while other regional exchanges were mixed and muted.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened evenly, see-sawed but finished off 0.1% as traders bought into tech shares, but were cautious ahead of Japan's pending national elections.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 27.15 to 38,954.60, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 150 to 74.

Leading the upside was shipping in Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, up 3.8%, while Sumitomo Pharma declined 6.7%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower and could not recover, finishing off 1.6% on trader sentiments that Beijing is not providing enough stimulus to China's economy and property markets.

The broad gauge Hang Seng fell 325.65 to 20,478.46, as losing issues outnumbered gainers 68 to 13. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 2.4% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.3%.

Leading the upside was Xinyi Solar, gaining 3.5%, while NetEast decined 3.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,268.11.

In economic news, The People's Bank of China lowered the one-year prime loan rate by 0.25% to 3.10%, and also lowered the five-year loan prime rate, a peg for property mortgages, by 0.25% to 3.60%.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.4%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.2%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.7%; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.7%, and the Thai Set declined 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.3%.

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