The upscale shopping district of Ginza in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, May 4, 2024.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose on Wednesday as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut benchmark lending rates and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would step down in September.

Kishida said he would not run for reelection as the Liberal Democratic Party leader, pledging his support to the new LDP leader, according to a Reuters translation of his statement in Japanese.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand unexpectedly cut its benchmark cash rate to 5.25%. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the central bank would maintain rates at 5.5%.

In South Korea, the country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 2.5% from 2.8% in July, hitting its lowest point since October 2023.

In Japan, business sentiment at manufacturers turned slightly less confident in August compared with the month before, according to the Reuters Tankan survey.

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