Hong Kong leads Asia-Pacific markets lower; Australia’s central bank keeps interest rate unchanged

Hong Kong stocks led Asia-Pacific markets lower on Tuesday, in their return from a National Day holiday on Monday. The city’s benchmark Hang Seng index closed 2.69% lower at 17,331.22, recovering slightly from earlier in the session when it was down more than 3%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded down 1.28% to close at 6,943.4 after the central bank held rates at 4.10%, as expected by a Reuters poll. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.64% to close 31,237.94. South Korean and Chinese markets are closed for holidays. Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes traded mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 74.15 points, or 0.22%, to 33,433.35. The S&P 500 inched higher by 0.01% to close at 4,288.39. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.67% to close at 13,307.77