06:34 AM EDT, 05/20/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely gained ground Tuesday after central banks in Beijing and Sydney cut interest rates.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher but softened in trading, finishing up 0.1% as traders eyed the vacillating Japanese yen-US dollar exchange rate.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 30.86 to 37,529.49, although losing issues outnumbered gainers 156 to 69.

Electronic equipment maker Furukawa Electric led the upside, up 7.2%, while J Front Retailing declined 4%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 1.5% after China's central bank announced an interest rate cut.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 348.76 to 23,681.48, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 68 to 11. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 1.2% on the day, but the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.4%.

Leading the upside was CSPC Pharmaceutical, gaining 6.1%, while Alibaba Health Information Technology declined 5.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,380.48.

In economic news, the People's Bank of China reduced its one-year loan prime rate (LPR) to 3.0% from the previous 3.1%, and lowered the five-year LPR, considered a peg for mortgage rates, to 3.5% from 3.6%.

In addition, China's major commercial banks announced that the one-year fixed-term deposit interest rate was cut by 0.15% to 0.95%.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI fell 0.1%; the Taiwan TWSE was flat; the Australian ASX 200 rose 0.6%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.2%, and the Thai Set advanced 0.2%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.9%.

In other economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reduced its key policy interest rate to 3.85% from 4.10%, citing moderating inflation.