Asian indicators mostly showed weak growth up to 0.5%. Only the Korean KOSPI showed a decline, losing 0.67%. China's Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Composite added 0.01% and 0.15% respectively, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.03%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 increased by 0.05%. The Nikkei 225 index rose by 2.57%.The Japanese indicator showed significant gains after the country's central bank left the interest rate unchanged at -0.1%. This decision was predicted by most experts.
The Bank of Japan has been pursuing such a soft monetary policy for quite some time, unlike most other central banks around the world.
At the same time, the central bank lowered its forecast for the country's economic growth in the near future to 1.9% from the previously projected 2%. The forecast of GDP growth for the 2023 fiscal year was lowered to 1.7% from the previous 1.9%. According to the central regulator's forecasts, consumer price growth is expected to be 3% in the current fiscal year and 1.6% in the next.
Among the companies of the Japanese Nikkei 225 index, Nissan Motor was up 2.9%, Advantest and Fast Retailing added 2.7% and 2.6% respectively, Softbank Group soared by 2.3%, Toyota Motors and Nintendo gained 2.2% and 2.1% respectively, and Sony and Tokyo Electron were up by 1.8% and 1.9%.
As for the Hang Seng index, Techtronic Industries gained 5.4%, Netease and Galaxy Entertainment gained 4.7% and 4.3%, respectively, Sands China gained 4.3% and CNOOC and Galaxy Entertainment added 3.8% and 3.5%.
Slightly smaller increases were demonstrated by Sunny Optical Technology Group securities, which rose by 2.5%, Geely, which added 1.9%, as well as Xiaomi, which gained 1.4%.
At the same time, Country Garden Holdings fell by 4.2%, Baidu and Alibaba dropped by 3.5% and 3% respectively, Longfor Group Holdings slid by 1.6% and JD.com was down by 0.7%.
The Korean KOSPI decline was triggered by the fall of Hyundai Motor by 1.8%, Posco by 1.6% as well as Samsung Electronics by 1.2%.
Australian companies were trading mixed. The stocks of Treasury Wine Estates fell by 0.8%, and BHP fell by 0.1%.
At the same time, Rio Tinto climbed by 1.1% after the company reported a 5% increase in iron ore shipments and an 11% increase in diamond production in the last quarter of 2022.