Asian stocks mixed on banking concerns

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed as banking concerns reignited on Wall Street Asia-Pacific markets were mixed as banking concerns reignited on Wall Street. The three major U.S. indexes suffered a four-day losing streak. Regional bank stocks sold off, the SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) fell more than 5% and some banks traded choppy. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 erased earlier losses and rose 0.29%. Investors digested the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy statement on its talks when it unexpectedly raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.85%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.59% to lead gains in the region. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.71% and the Shenzhen Component Index fell 1.08%. China’s Caixin services purchasing managers index for April fell to 56.4 from 57.8 in March, but continued to expand as the Caixin manufacturing PMI slipped into contraction territory. Markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays.