Greens dominate Asian stock markets
In Asian markets, investors are evaluating the Bank of Japan’s policy interest rate and Tokyo inflation figures.
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on Friday as investors across Asia looked to the Bank of Japan’s policy decision and inflation numbers from Tokyo.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept the policy rate unchanged after the monetary policy meeting on Friday and kept the benchmark policy rate between 0 percent and 0.1 percent. This is in line with economists’ expectations.
Tokyo’s headline inflation rate for April was 1.8 percent, slowing from 2.6 percent in March. Core inflation in the capital, which excludes fresh food prices, fell sharply to 1.6 percent from 2.4 percent in March, below economists’ expectations of 2.2 percent. Tokyo inflation data is considered a leading indicator of nationwide trends.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.27 percent before the BOJ decision, while Topix rose 0.25 percent.
South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.95 percent, while the small-cap Kosdaq posted a smaller gain of 0.36 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.24 percent, while China’s CSI 300 index rose 0.72 percent.
However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index lost 1.15 percent, driven by industrial and healthcare stocks.