06:35 AM EDT, 03/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday after China's central bank left policy rates unchanged and traders awaited the policy statement from the US Federal Reserve. Tokyo exchanges were closed on holiday.

Hong Kong and Shanghai finished higher, while other regional exchanges were uneven.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly, traded sideways, and finished up 0.1% as strength in the property and tech sectors propped up broader market indices.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 13.59 to 16,543.07, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 41 to 35. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 1.3%.

Leading the upside was garment house Li Ning, up 5.7%, while coal-producer China Resources Power brought up the rear, falling 3.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% to 3,079.69

In economic news, the People's Bank of China maintained policy rates at 3.45% for one-year loans, and 3.95% for five-year loans, the latter of which is a peg for property mortgages.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.3%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.4%; the Australian ASX 200 declined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.1%, and the Thai Set declined 0.7%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.1%.

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